Nocturnal House
See the World Through Night Eyes
Take a moment... let your eyes adjust... and come with us on a night-time journey around Australia and Asia
Enter the dark and mysterious world of some of the world’s most fascinating nocturnal creatures at Perth Zoo’s Nocturnal House.
Owls, possums, mice, bats, lizards, frogs and a huge array of Australian marsupials such as bettongs, bandicoots and bilbies are all on display. Also, keep a keen eye out for the Water Rat and Slow Loris.
A special invertebrate exhibit features some of Australia’s creepy-crawleys, such as Red-back Spiders, Sydney Funnel Web and centipede. Watch the scorpion glow in the dark!
Nocturnal animals are generally inactive during daylight hours and come alive between sunset and sunrise. Perth Zoo’s Nocturnal House reverses the clock so that Zoo visitors can see, by day, these amazing creatures in naturalistic night-time settings.
Take an extra moment to look deep within the brush and trees for the inhabitants. You may suddenly find a pair of eyes looking right back at you. Many are masters of disguise — their survival depends on it!
For the wellbeing the creatures that call the Nocturnal House home, we ask that you do not use flash photography, torches or lighters in the Nocturnal House. Smoking is also prohibited.
Bilby
Bilbies have very powerful forelimbs and strong claws, which are used to dig for food and for burrowing. Bilbies build burrows that spiral down to depths of two metres and usually houses only a single Bilby.
Cane Toad
As a declared pest, Cane Toads pose a dangerous threat to Australian native species. With no natural predators and an abundance of food sources, they have spread quickly since their release.
Chuditch
The Western Quoll, or Chuditch (a Nyoongah name), is Western Australia’s largest carnivorous marsupial. This animal is an excellent climber and this helps it to catch tree-dwelling animals.
Dibbler
The Dibbler is a small marsupial with rather coarse brownish grey fur, speckled with white. The Zoo is breeding Dibblers to increase knowledge about them and to provide animals for release into predator safe areas on islands and the mainland.
Ghost Bat
The Ghost Bat has a light grey, almost white, colouring and large long ears. It is Australia's only carnivorous bat and eats large insects, reptiles, frogs, birds, small mammals and, sometimes, other bat species.
Green Tree Frog
These frogs live a solitary existence and come together only at breeding time. At this time, a deep barking sound is repeated regularly that sounds a bit like timber being sawn. Up to 2, 000 eggs are laid.
Red-eyed Tree Frog
Nocturnal in nature, the Red-eyed Tree Frog camouflages itself while sleeping by firmly shutting its eyes. If woken, its huge, bright red eyes may scare predators away.
Sandhill Dunnart
The Sandhill Dunnart is one of the largest of the dunnart species. It has large ears, large eyes and a distinctive comb-like tuft of fur on the tip of its tail.
Spinifex Hopping-mouse
The Spinifex Hopping-mouse has a light brown coat with a grey-white belly. They avoid the heat of the desert during the day by sleeping in deep burrows. At dusk, they come out to feed.
Squirrel Glider
Squirrel Gliders are omnivores and eat insects, gum from acacias, sap from eucalypts, nectar, pollen and green seeds of the golden wattle.
Tiger Quoll
Tiger Quolls are the largest carnivorous marsupial on the Australian mainland. IIntroduced predators such as foxes compete with Tiger Quolls for food.
Water Rat
Apart from the platypus, the Water Rat is the only amphibious Australian mammal. It is most active around sunset and has been seen foraging during the day.
Western Ringtail Possum
Western Ringtail Possums are nocturnal and sleep in leafy nests in tree-holes during the day. Habitat destruction and predation by feral cats and foxes are threats to the Western Ringtail Possum population.