Zoos & Wildlife in Tasmania

Tasmania's two options sit at opposite ends of the island, so where you are staying may settle it before anything else. Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary in Brighton is about a 30-minute drive north of Hobart, and one source advises going by car since public transport does not reach it. Tasmania Zoo in Riverside is off Ecclestone Road, under fifteen kilometres from South Launceston.

Bonorong is the native-animal, conservation-first choice. Kangaroos roam freely and visitors get a bag of feed, and hand-feeding them is what reviewers mention most, alongside wombats and Tasmanian devils. Discover Tasmania notes it runs the island's largest 24-hour wildlife rescue service with an on-site hospital visitors can observe, and Tourism Australia lists it among Australia's best zoos as a social enterprise and wildlife hospital. The free guided tour follows a single loop path, so younger kids see everything without backtracking. Paid extras include 10-minute encounters with wombats, echidnas, ringtail possums and tawny frogmouths, a Feeding Frenzy that one source puts at two and a half to three hours, and night tours for nocturnal species, which need advance booking and suit older children and teens.

Tasmania Zoo is the broader collection: one source calls it the largest in the state, with the second largest primate collection among Australia's private zoos and the only Celebes Crested Macaque in Australasia. Paid encounters reach beyond natives to a red panda, pygmy marmosets, a giraffe and a cheetah, though the devil and wombat encounters are the reviewer favourites. It is set up for a full day, with a well-reviewed cafe, picnic and barbecue areas, wheelchair access throughout, baby change and a separate dinosaur walk. Shade on the paths is sparse.

Pick Bonorong for kids who want to feed kangaroos and understand the rescue story; pick Tasmania Zoo for toddlers, prams and a longer day with exotic species.