Featherdale Wildlife Park, Sydney

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.

It was raining when i visited but hey i won't let that rain on my parade.... The thing that sux is there aren't nearly enough santuarys or great big gum trees for our Koalas. Wildlife Warriors 4EVAxx

You get to pet the kangaroos and koalas! Thats a plus in my book. Sweet deal! It far from the city, but it's worth the ride.

IT was GREAT!I would definitly recommend visiting! Great for all ages.

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?

Excellent hands-on wildlife park - love it! Staff very friendly, good souviner shop, have your picture with a koala. Feed the kangaroos.

Recently I visited here with my 2 year old and a few friends and their 2 year old. I was hoping for chances to interact with animals.....this was really only possible in the kangaroo feeding area. By the time we got there all the kangaroos were so stuffed with food, none of them would look twice at what we had to offer. The farm animal section had no animals available for patting. That was disappointing, as it is named Featherdale FARM. The layout of the place is confusing, and the map provided with the expensive entry fee was incomprehensible. So, an average day, but seemingly enjoyed by the busloads of tourists out to get a photo with a koala.

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.

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 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