While you won't see the extinct Tasmanian tiger here, you'll still have an unique, up-close encounter with local furry and feathered friends at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. Located 27km north of Hobart, this haven for the state's native wildlife was established in 1981 to care for injured and orphaned wildlife and is now Tasmania's most popular wildlife park.
Some of the marsupial species you'll see at Bonorong that are extinct in other Australian states include the Tasmanian devil, eastern quoll, Tasmanian pademelon and Tasmanian bettong. Other critters that call this sanctuary home are koalas, golden possums, potoroos, emus, quolls, wombats and echidnas – many of them rescued and hand reared at the park. Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary also has a successful breeding program for the endangered Tassie devils – a most misunderstood marsupial that you'll have the opportunity to observe firsthand at the park.
General admission to the park is AU$24 for adults, AU$10 for kids aged four to 15 years and free for tots aged three and under. Each entry comes with a complimentary bag of kangaroo food to hand feed the friendly, free-ranging wallabies and kangaroos. Wildlife enthusiasts won't want to miss the free guided tours daily at 11:30am and 2pm to meet the resident wombats, Tasmanian devils and koalas during their feeding time, pat them and take close-up pics while learning about the unique attributes of Aussie wildlife. For an extra-special insight, the 2.5-hour, fully guided night tours allow a privileged look into the inner sanctum and activity of the sanctuary's nocturnal animals. For AU$149 for two adults (less for groups), visitors can receive an exclusive tour at dusk to go inside the nocturnal critters' enclosures and hand feed a Tassie devil.
To get to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, take the A1 road from Hobart to Brighton and follow the signs to Bonorong Wildlife Park. The journey should take around 30 minutes by car.
