Adelaide Hotels near Adelaide Zoo

One of Zoo’s the earliest plantings is a Moreton Bay fig tree, dating back to 1877 and sheltering the Minchin House, the former director’s residence now used as the Royal Zoological Society’s administrative offices.

The Minchin House, along with the Zoo’s original Elephant House, central Rotunda, Head Keeper’s Cottage, Main Gates, and Entrance Walls are listed on the City of Adelaide’s Register of Heritage Items and Register of State Heritage Items. The Elephant House is a fine example of the Victorian idea of the appropriate way to shelter captive animals; housing Indian elephants, it was modeled after an Indian temple.

The Adelaide Zoo Today

Today, however, the Adelaide Zoo is at the forefront of modern conservation efforts, providing its animals with as natural a habitat as possible given their location in South Australia’s largest city. The Zoo is focused on preserving South Australia’s endangered animals, which are much more likely to breed in natural surroundings.

The Adelaide Zoo’s newest habitat is the South Eastern Rain Forest, with a path winding through the front yards of Sun Bears, Dusky Leaf Monkeys, Malayan Tapirs, and the heart-stoppingly beautiful Siamese Fireback Pheasant and Eclectus Parrots.

The Fireback Pheasant is not the Zoos’ only spectacularly-plumed bird, however; the Amazon aviary has a resident flock of scarlet macaws, sharing quarters with a small family of rare Golden Lion Tamarin monkeys. There is a Macaw Freeflight Display daily at 1:00PM.

Zoo visitors can take a break for lunch at the Lyrebird Restaurant, or just grab a snack on a cold drink at the kiosk in the Children’s Zoo. Those more interested in watching the animals and birds eat can find one or another of them being fed between 11:45 AM (sealions) and 3:30 PM (rainforest birds).

The Adelaide Zoo is open year-round from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM.

Accommodations near the Adelaide Zoo

The Oaks Horizons Hotel Adelaide, at 104 North Terrace, is located adjacent to the Adelaide Convention Centre and within a mile of the Adelaide Zoo, Botanic Garden, Art Gallery, and South Australia Museum.