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Private luxury retreat
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2 bedroom apartment
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Off street parking
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Self contained
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Native wildlife
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Wildlife camera
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River views
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Free WiFi
For enquires call Jane
+61 (0) 438 681 390
Tasmanian Wildlife Parks
Tasmania’s wildlife is one of the reasons tourists love to visit our region. As you may already know from viewing the Attractions & Activities section of this website, and our Gallery, you will see many Australian native animals and birds right here in the backyard of our Launceston Wildlife Retreat and along the riverbank. However, there are also many Tasmanian wildlife parks to visit while you’re here, some close to Launceston and others a little further afield.
Here’s a selection:
At George Town, on Tasmania’s north coast not far from Launceston, is Lowhead Penguin Tours which provides a unique and delightful opportunity to get up close and personal with Little Blue Penguins as they return from Bass Strait to their burrows.
The 60 to 90 minute fully guided tours will enable you to experience Little Blue Penguins or Fairy Penguins swimming to the surface, standing up, preening and waddling on the pristine Bass Strait beach. Between November and February each year between 100 and 200 penguins come ashore each night, and 10 to 100 penguins between March and October. Commentary on penguin behaviour is provided, along with local maritime and colonial history.
Little penguins (Eudyptula minor) – photo by Tourism Tasmania & Glen Turvey
Echidna (left) at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary – photo by Tourism Tasmania & Neil Murray; Pandemelon (right) – photo by Tourism Tasmania & Don Fuchs
Trowunna Wildlife Park at Mole Creek near Launceston is known as “an oasis for native wildlife”, a privately owned park where you can experience native wildlife in their natural habitat.
They are deeply involved in the preservation of the Tasmanian Devil and have daily interactive tours and devil feedings, morning and afternoons. This is a sanctuary for many species of Tasmanian native wildlife, and includes an amphibian habitat in the wetlands of the park. It is home to five different species of Tasmanian frogs including the Pobblebonk, Brown Tree Frog and Tasmanian Froglet.
A little further afield is the largest Tasmanian wildlife park, Wings Wildlife Park at Gunns Plain to the south-west of Ulverstone near Launceston. It features birds of prey, reptiles, and of course Tasmanian Devils, kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, possums, bandicoots and sugar gliders.
For anyone interested in reptiles, Wings Wildlife Park also showcases the Blotched Blue Tongue Lizard, the Copperhead Snake, the Metallic Skink, the Mountain Dragon, and more. There is also a Tasmanian aquatic exhibition featuring Rainbow Trout, Black Fish and Lobster, to name just a few. Birds include quails, pheasants, finches, parrots and emu.
Wombat – photo by Tourism Tasmaia & Joe Shemesh
Left to right: Koala (photo by Tourism Tasmania & Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary); Possum (photo by Tourism Tasmania & Mark Eveleigh); Bennetts Wallaby (photo by Tourism Tasmania & Don Fuchs)
Zoodoo is near at Richmond near Bridgewater on the scenic drive between Launceston and Hobart. In addition to exotic animals, it houses native Tasmanian and mainland Australian species including quolls, wombats, koalas, possums, gliders and Tasmania devils. Zoodoo also has an abundance of friendly wallaby and kangaroo, including the rare albino kangaroo, which can be hand fed as you wander the native section of the park.
Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary at Brighton, 25 minutes from Hobart and just off the A1 directly from Launceston, has a Tasmanian wildlife program designed to help native animals in need. The Sanctuary, which specialises in the care and rehabilitation of orphaned and injured Australian wildlife, prides itself on providing an “up close and personal experience” for visitors. Bonorong also has one of the largest mobs of friendly, free-range kangaroos and wallabies which can be hand fed.
The Tasmanian Devil Park on the Port Arthur Highway at Taranna, south of Hobart, is the world’s leading Tasmanian Devil Centre. It features, of course, Devil feeding (six times a day), along with a free flight presentation called Kings of the Wind showcasing falcons. Parrots, friendly kangaroos and wallabies, eagles, rare hawks, wild rosellas and cute little quolls are also on show.
Tasmanian Devil – photo by Tourism Tasmania & Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
Golden Possum (photo by Tourism Tasmania & Mike Calder) and Sugar Glider (photo by Tourism Tasmania & Dan Fellow)
Your accommodation at Launceston Wildlife Retreat provides the perfect base to explore Tasmania and experience Tasmanian wildlife on our property, along the South Esk River bank, and in the excellent zoos and wildlife parks dotted throughout Tasmania. We look forward to seeing you soon!
(Photographs in the top banner, left to right: Golden Possum, photo by Tourism Tasmania & Mike Calder; Little Penguins, photo by Tourism Tasmania & Glen Turvey; Wallaby, photo by Tourism Tasmania & Bill Bachman; Juvenile Tawny Frogmouths, photo by Tourism Tasmania & Dave James)