‘Hoof and Claw’

(showcasing a range of mammals, reptiles & primates)

1.00 – 2.00 African Savannah

Spend an hour wandering down a dry riverbed amongst some of the best-known African plant and animal species. Lion, rhino, cheetah, hyaena, meerkats, baboons, giraffe, painted dogs and zebra. Take a rest-break in the cool comfort of Cinema N’dutu and watch short films about African animals. At 1.45 meet a zookeeper who will tell you all about rhinoceros and introduce you to Perth Zoo’s rhinoceros herd in one of our keeper presentations.

2.00 – 2.30 Things that go bump in the night

At the exit of the African Savannah, stop and introduce yourself to our three Galapagos Tortoises. Don’t let their size fool you…these giants of the Galapogos Islands (South America) can live more than 100 years – but ours are not even 40 yet!

Move on to the Nocturnal House (across the path). Let your eyes adjust, put your camera flashes away and lower your voice as you enter the quiet, dark world of creatures of the night. Some of these animals have adopted a nocturnal lifestyle in order to avoid predators which are active during the day. See slow loris, owl, bat, woilie, water rat, scorpion, possum, quoll, frog, and a range of Aussie spiders. Check out Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny, the Bilby, which is also one of our most threatened marsupial species. And…discover an ancient invertebrate that glows under fluorescent light!

2.30 – 4.00 Giants of Asia

Some Asian species are physically giants and others have giant reputations!

Check out one of the largest zoo colonies of Sumatran Orang-utans in the world. Perth Zoo has had a world-class captive breeding program for this shy, critically endangered big ape for decades. The work we do is helping to help wild orang-utans too.

At 2.45, make sure you don’t miss one of our most popular keeper-talks – the elephant talk. Watch the Asian Elephants demonstrate some of their natural behaviours and hear from  their handlers. Working so closely with elephants can be a dangerous job, but the keepers have been accepted as members of the herd and are considered part of the family.

Up the hill you’ll see otters, Red Pandas, gibbons, a fishing-cat, Sun Bears and macaques – all Asian species.

There are toilets at the top of this road – time for a convenience stop before making your way back down the hill toward the Sumatran Tigers. There are estimated to be fewer than 400 of these extraordinary big cats left in the wild and Perth Zoo is one of several zoos in Australia to breed the species.

4.00 – 5.00 Island Primates

On your way to the exit (across the main lawn), stop by the main lake and look into the treetops on the two artificial islands. A breeding pair of rare White-cheeked Gibbons hang out in the large pine & rope network on the first island and their neighbours are a group of Black-and-White Ruffed Lemurs.

On your way out of the Zoo stop by the Memberships & Information counter to look at the range of fundraising paw-prints on offer. Each one is a print taken from a Perth Zoo animal and is beautifully framed. You can even get a do-it-yourself paw-print pack for your own pets.

Last stop before the exit is the Zoo Shop. Shelves and shelves full of wonderful animal themed items to remember your visit by at a price to suit everybody. The Zoo closes at 5pm but the Zoo Shop stays open an extra 15 mins for your shopping convenience.