Cairns Hotels near Cairns Tropical Zoo

Cairns Tropical Zoo Attractions

Crocodiles, wombats, kangaroos, and some extremely rare Nepalese red pandas join dingoes and cassowaries as some of the Cairns Tropical Zoo’s more popular attractions, but its 1:45 PM Snake Show is very likely the Zoo’s best attended feature. The snakes are managed by expert handlers and the entire proceeding occurs inside a cage, but the audience is given the opportunity, if t hey wish, to handle some of the slithering performers. One snake they do not handle, however, is the Taipan--the deadliest in the world.

A close second to the Snake Show, in terms of suspense, is the Crocodile Show. It occurs at 11:30 AM, when the Zoo’s crocodile keeper brings lunch into the enclosure housing the fresh and salt water crocodiles including “Sarge,” who at five metres in length is the boss. As the crocodiles make quick work of their meals, the keeper gives the audience an enlightening talk on their history and habits.

Zoo visitors with a yen for less adventurous animal contact can pay $1 for a bag of kangaroo feed, enter the Kangaroo Paddock, and hand-feed their choice of the Zoo’s fifty tame Eastern Grey ‘Roos. Or they can attend one of the twice-daily Koala Keeper Talks, learn about the absurdly cute Australian icons, and even cuddle one of them.

Cairns Tropical Zoo Night Zoo

For those like the idea of Zoos after dark, there is the Cairns Night Zoo, getting underway at 6:00PM in an area of the Zoo set aside to provide guests with a BBQ and drinks, a tour of the Zoo while the night creatures are out and about, billy tea and damper, and a lesson in Australian bush dancing. Everyone is transported home at 10:00.

Hotels near the Cairns Tropical Zoo

The Oasis Palm Cove, nestled among lush gardens a mere eighty metres from the beach, is twenty minutes for the Cairns International Airport and even closer to the Cairns Tropical Zoo.