Featherdale Wildlife Park, Sydney

Might I suggest you read the signs next time which when I was there made it quite clear you weren't supposed to touch the koalas? There are many animals there you can get up close to and yes Kangaroos have SERIOUS claws they look like raptor claws, but the Koalas that we saw were all very clearly labelled not to touch. There was one on "display" in a fake tree and people were sticking their camera inches from the face to take pics so it doesn't surprise me at all that if you actually touched one it might not like it. What part of wild animal did you not understand?

I visited Featherdale Wildlife Park last month as part of a vacation to Australia. We arrived by train and bus from downtown Sydney, not as part of another tour, but with the promise of being able to pet a koala, as website states “enjoy a face-to-face encounter with one of our friendly koalas”. This is a dangerous place. I did pet a koala, and it climbed up my arm and onto my head. Along the way it ripped my ear and the area around one of my eyes. It scratched my face in several places and hurt my arm. I was bleeding and screaming for help, as I couldn’t get the koala to stop climbing or get off me. I screamed and screamed for quite a while before anyone came and helped. There was nobody from the Park watching the animals, or the visitors!! I was bleeding a lot. I begged for help. I was afraid that my eye was punctured. Instead, I got a lecture from a teenage girl working there that it was “my fault” for touching the koala. Finally, I was taken to a first aid area, where two nice women helped to clean me up and bandaged my open wounds. However, they suggested that I get medical attention, and that I take a bus to the nearest medical center. I was in no condition to wait for a bus!! I repeatedly asked that they call a taxi for me. The Park never apologized or offered to pay for the medical bills I incurred (2 emergency doctor visits and medication) or even to pay for the taxi. They wrote a report but refused to give me a copy. I would never take a child there. Their website shows a baby kissing a koala. It gives me the chills.

This place was the highlight of our trip for our elementary aged kids! Being able to interact with the animals was a real treat. Featherdale is worth the effort it takes to get there from Sydney as well as being a bargain priced attraction. I'd highly recommend a visit there!

like the animals but was afraid of the kangaroos, my friends told me that kangaroos kick people so i was so afraid to come near, but! they are lovable and cute. love the koalas, wombat and kangaroos!!!!!!!!!!!

I spent a lot of time in & around Sydney, taking all the tours available(even rappelling in the Blue Mountains and a Harley Davidson sunset ride around the nearby towns),but by far the most memorable, exciting and uniquely Australian experience was Featherdale. It is the only way to truly get to know the animals of Australia. I petted a wombat(now officially my favorite mammal),hung out by the Kangaroos as long as I wanted, saw gorgeous/surreal birds,snuggled up next to a Koala and stared-down a (caged)Tasmanian Devil. I got close enough that it felt like I walked among the animals. There's was nothing zoo-like about it. Initially, I balked at the time it would take to get to there & back to Sydney. Thankfully, my friends insisted. Hey,I flew 13+ hours to get to the other side of the planet, why blink at a 45 min train ride? The trains & stations are very,very nice. Plus, you get the experience of being a local and seeing what things outside the city are like. People back at home aren't interested in my photos of the Opera House or the beaches. They're always absolutely crazy about the pics I took of these animals and the ones of me petting them. This is only the second thing I've ever reviewed online. I did it because I don't want you to miss out on the coolest thing ever. It has been 8 years since my trip, but I've still got the souvenir stuffed toy Wombat,from Featherdale,sitting on the dresser in my bedroom. I'm 43. And,I don't even like stuffed animals. Guess the place really made an impression.

A great place for the kids to see local wildlife of Australia and to have hands on which was fun for my daughter. A great place for the family.

We went to four different wildlife parks/zoos on our trip to Australia(including Steve Irwin's zoo) and this was by the far the best one. the kangaroos and wallabies were the friendliest and there were tons of other animals there. When you go to Sydney, you should check it out.

i loved this place bacause it had so much to do and see i learned so much well i was at Feathdale Wildlife Park. cxant wait till we go back

I've visited this park when I return to Sydney from Blue Mountain. I realy like the atmosphere of this park as I can be up close to the animals especialy the cuety wombat and some birds are flying here and there. There was not enough time for me to explore the park although I spent almost 2 hours at there!

I visited in September 2005 as part of a day trip from Sydney to the Blue Mountains. I was thrilled to be able to pet kangaroos and several farm animals.