Planning your visit
Getting the Most Out of Your Visit
If you’re wanting to have a good Zoo experience, it helps to know the following things.
General Zoo Information
Wait… Watch… Listen
Living in larger, naturalistic exhibits full of trees, mounds and foliage allows the animals to interact with visitors or each other on their own terms. This helps assure their physical, psychological and social well-being. It also means that you may need to wait, watch and listen a little harder to spot some animals – just as though you were in the wild.
Suggested Itineraries
So much to see, no idea where to begin? We’ve suggested a couple of itineraries to help make your Perth Zoo experience a little easier. Morning | Afternoon
Getting Around the Zoo
Perth Zoo publishes an informative map which is full of animal and conservation information. You can purchase the map for just $1.00 at the Zoo to help you navigate your way around. You can hire strollers and wagons when you enter the Zoo or book a one-hour guided
Zebra Car tour to drive you around in style.
What to Bring
Weather: Perth Zoo has a mixed environment of indoor and outdoor exhibits. However we are predominantly an outdoor environment and so we recommend that you dress/prepare for the weather as forecast. The Zoo Shop sells affordable souvenir rain-ponchos if you get caught short. The Information Centre provides sun-screen at 20c per squirt (monies raised are donated to the Zoo’s Project Sun Bear)
Camera: Capture your fabulous Zoo day on film. You are welcome to film/photograph the Zoo animals for personal use only (but remember that it is against the law to use the images commercially or for personal gain). You can purchase a disposable camera at the Zoo Shop if you forget your own.
Transport: We welcome your prams, strollers, wheelchairs, ‘gophers’ or other essential mobility devices. You can hire prams, pull-along wagons, wheelchairs or electric ‘gophers’ from the Front Entrance to help move your family around the Zoo. Please do not bring skateboards, roller-blades/skates, scooters, bicycles or other non-essential mobility devices or these will be confiscated.
Alcohol & beverages: Perth Zoo is a family venue and so alcohol consumption is not permitted in the general grounds. Alcohol may be consumed on the Main Lawn provided it is consumed with a meal and in a responsible fashion. Park Management Officers may monitor your consumption and act in accordance with their responsibilities under the Zoological Parks Act (2002) Regulations. Penalties apply.
Food & Drink
You may like to bring a picnic or food for a BBQ. There are several free BBQs and picnic tables available for your use. Please remember that large crowds may mean a delay in accessing a BBQ. There are also a number of food outlets available for purchase of food and drink and vending machines scattered all over the Zoo.
Feeding Times & Keeper Presentations
In order to ensure that the animals do not become habituated to being fed at a certain time, Perth Zoo does not structure formal feeding times for most species. Animals are fed throughout the day, frequently on-display so you can see it.
The penguin, rhino and koala keeper presentations usually include a feed (although not guaranteed).
Some Sundays, the Estuarine Crocodile is fed at 11.45 (listen out for PA announcements).
Click here for a list of Special Presentations and Feeding Times.
Do Not Feed the Animals
Human food can be deadly to many animal species. Our animals have carefully balanced diets and their health can be seriously impacted by being fed human foods (or any other food). Feeding the animals is against Zoo rules and is also against the law! Penalties apply (Reg 12c $600 penalty).
No Smoking
Perth Zoo is a NO SMOKING venue. There are two designated areas for smokers. Smoking is not permitted anywhere else in the Zoo.
Zoo Rules
To make sure that everyone can enjoy their visit in an equitable and safe fashion, Perth Zoo has some rules which are part of the conditions of entry. These rules are supported by law in the form of the Zoological Parks Authority Act (2002) and Regulations which allows our Park Management Officers to issue cautions, on-the-spot fines, or full penalties which can lead to court appearances. You can view the whole regulations or here’s a summary of some of the sorts of rules we have:
Zoo visitors must:
- have a ticket to enter the Zoo and present that ticket (if asked) as proof of entry (Reg 5i and 5iv, $600 penalty)
- supervise children under 12 years of age at all times whilst in the Zoo (Reg 6i, $600 penalty)
- not touch, disturb or feed any animal in the Zoo or throw any object into their enclosure (Reg 12a,b,c $600 penalty)
- not enter any area marked as ‘no entry’ or cross barriers to animal exhibits or enter a garden area (Reg 13 $600 penalty)
- not bring or release any animal into Perth Zoo (Reg 17a,b $2000 penalty)
- not bring balls, bicycles, skate-boards, stand-on scooters, laser lights, sporting equipment or balloons to the zoo (or any other thing that might cause injury or damage to visitor or animal) (Reg 18a,b $600 penalty)
- not smoke anywhere inside the Zoo except for the clearly marked locations (Reg 21-1 and 21-2, $2000 penalty applies)
- not take photographs or film for the purposes of public display, broadcast or transmission or in the promotion or sale of goods without permission (Reg 29a,b $2000 penalty)
- not grafitti (Reg 15a, $600 penalty), or distribute or display advertising or promotional material (Reg 24a, $2000 penalty)
- not interfere, annoy or disturb any other person visiting the Zoo (Reg 22a $2000 penalty)