A visit to the Dubbo Zoo

From the time I migrated to Australia, I wanted to do an encounter or feed a giraffe. Being a crazy animal lover I am, I couldn’t have let this gone. Back in the year 2012, when I first visited Sydney Taronga zoo, I tried to book the encounter with giraffes activity. The giraffe encounters are so famous that they get sold out a week in advance, which means unfortunately, I did not get the tickets.

My second attempt was in the year 2014, again at the Sydney Taronga zoo. I got the tickets for the activity fortunately. But the morning of my activity turned out to be a disaster and there were heavy rains. Due to heavy rains, the encounters for the day were cancelled.

I was not ready to compromise in my third attempt, which was in October 2015. During my visit to Western Plains Taronga zoo at Dubbo, I tried again and I was lucky to get the tickets. And this time, the weather was also perfect, a bright sunny day with absolutely zero chances of rain. At the Dubbo zoo, there was an opportunity for the visitors to feed carrots to the beautiful giraffes.

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Where is Dubbo Zoo?

Dubbo Zoo is also known as Taronga Western Plains Zoo, is a large zoo in Dubbo in New South Wales (NSW) state of Australia. The zoo was opened to public in the year 1977. The animals are kept in huge enclosures where the animals can roam around and they are not caged in the zoo. The zoo is home to wide variety of animals and it helps in the breeding and protection programs.

The Taronga Western Plains zoo has its own official mobile application. Download the app to get all the information and the map of the zoo.

Cost and Tickets

The tickets to the zoo can be booked on their website. For general admission, the ticket cost is AUD 43.20 per adult. Note: For up-to-date information on the cost and availability, refer their website.

One definitely needs an entire day to cover all the things in the zoo. Also, to move between the enclosures, a person definitely needs a vehicle like a bicycle or a car.

Animal encounters

There are a number of animal encounters visitors can do while being at the zoo. Some of them are:

• Feed carrots to the giraffes – Note: This is a very popular activity among the kids and they run out of slots very quickly. Ensure to book the experience well in advance or the first thing in the morning.
• Morning walk behind the scene – There are morning educative walks conducted at the zoo and this is pretty awesome as well.

The visitors can also stay in the zoo for the nights. However, the cost of staying for one night per adult is very expensive.

How to get there?

• Driving – The Taronga Western Plains Zoo is around 400 kilometres from Sydney Central Business District (CBD). It takes around 5 hours 10 minutes to drive.
  • The route has toll roads.

For fun big things to see on the way, read 11 big things to see in NSW.

• Public transport – There are trains that run between Sydney Central train station and Dubbo.
  • The trains can be booked on Transport for NSW website.

Closing notes

The Taronga Western Plains Zoo must definitely be on the list of places to visit in NSW. It is an amazing zoo and it feels good to see animals in such large enclosures where they can freely move around.

Have you visited the Dubbo zoo? If yes, I would love to hear what you thought about the place. Please drop a comment or send me an email on Solopassport@gmail.com.