Ballarat Wildlife Park

One of the best things to do at the Ballarat Wildlife Park in Melbourne is to meet the animals here. In addition to a plethora of native Australian animals, including quokkas, kangaroos, dingoes and wombats, the wildlife park is also the abode of 6 meerkats who have recently joined the collection here. In addition to the Meerkats roaming freely in their cosy enclosures here, the park has also introduced a Little Penguin exhibit, where you can find a colony of Little Penguins, which are the smallest penguin species in the whole world, and are the only species found on the Australian mainland. Furthermore, you can also get a chance to meet two Sumatran tigers here, named Maneki and Satu, as they lie around under the sun. Some of the other wildlife species that you can meet in the park include threatened species, such as the Growling Grass Frog, the Brown Toadlet and more.

During your visit to the Ballarat Wildlife Park, you can also enjoy a variety of Animal Encounters here. In addition to getting a chance to pet a koala and taking photographs with these furry animals, you can also witness Hugo the Giant Tortoise here, who is more than 80 years old. Additionally, you can also meet other animals, including Pablo the Boa Constrictor, Moss the Coastal Carpet Python or even the friendly wombats, whom you can hold and cuddle with. However, all of these animal encounter programs have specific timings, which you will have to keep in mind so as to enjoy them properly.

The wildlife park Ballarat boasts of several conservation programs, which have been designed in a way such that the endangered animal and reptile species here are taken care of in a better way. So, when you visit the park, you must definitely spend some time learning about these Conservation Programs. The Ballarat Wildlife Park was the first privately owned wildlife park in the Australian mainland which bred Tasmanian Devils, and then introduced several conservation methods in order to protect these animals from the cancer that has affected a majority of this species. Some of the other conservation programs here include the Save the Koala program, Tiger Protection Conservation, and more.

One of the top must-visit attractions near the wildlife park Ballarat is the Sovereign Hill, which dates back to 1970. This place is an open-air museum, which offers you a glimpse into the initial 10 years of Ballarat after gold was discovered here in the year 1851. During your visit to this unique museum, you can witness several displays of costumed characters, cats as well as horses and other artefacts that describe life during the Victorian Goldfields. You can also enjoy seeing a gold pour, where $160,000 worth of gold is melted and then transformed into a bullion weighing 3 kilograms.

After a visit to the Ballarat Wildlife Park, make sure to explore the Art Gallery of Ballarat, which is known for being the largest and oldest regional Australian gallery, and dates back to 1884. It is here where you can discover some of the best Australian art dating from the colonial era to the contemporary periods. You can also come across masterpieces by famed artists like Fred Williams, Clarice Beckett, Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd, among others, in this art gallery. Listed as a heritage site and monument, the Art Gallery of Ballarat is also known to organise and host many temporary exhibitions, as well as shows that have been influenced by the art works in the gallery.

Amongst the best places near the wildlife park Ballarat is the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, where you can spend some much needed quality time with your near and dear ones in the lap of nature. Spread across 40 hectares of land, the Ballarat Botanical Gardens are also home to other attractions, such as an Ex-Prisoner of War Memorial that pays tribute to the hundreds of thousands of prisoners who were imprisoned during the Korean War and the two World Wars. You can also enjoy walking in the tree lined pathways here, whilst admiring the many marble statues that are set amidst vibrant flowerbeds.