Zoos & Wildlife in South Australia

The split here is between two kinds of day. Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park are the viewing zoos. Adelaide Zoo reviewers keep coming back to the pandas, which the Ultimate Guide to Zoos & Farms in Adelaide calls the only pandas in the Southern Hemisphere, and it is walkable and family-sized, best for children aged 3 to 10. Monarto runs on guided bus tours through what the same guide describes as large natural-style habitats for lions, giraffes, cheetahs and rhinos, so it suits mixed ages and anyone who would struggle with long walks in heat.

The hands-on parks are in the Hills and on the coast. Cleland Wildlife Park and Gorge Wildlife Park both have free-roaming kangaroo feeding and koala sessions that sell out, so book those before you leave home. Cleland is a single circuit and reviewers who have seen many parks rate it among the country's best for animal welfare; Gorge is compact and family-owned, with Tasmanian devils, dingoes and monkeys according to the Ultimate Guide. Urimbirra Wildlife Park at Victor Harbor includes koala patting and kangaroo feeding in the entry price with no add-on fees, which matters with several children. Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary is built around scheduled animal shows including dingo feeding, and The best zoos and wildlife parks in and near Adelaide says it is the only place in South Australia to see platypus.

Two outliers. Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park is small, suits ages 3 and up, and its private tour lets kids feed and hold several species. Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary is not a park at all: entry is free, the paid kayak tours through mangroves are what reviewers praise, and wild dolphin sightings are never guaranteed.