"Territory Wildlife Park" Palmerston Island Travelogue by 1+1

No visit to the Top End is complete without a visit to the Territory Wildlife Park, or so they say. If fact it's very true. Situated about 60 kms south of Darwin, the Park is by far the best place to gain an understanding of what it is you are seeing in the Territory, as well as what there is to be seen. Too many people visit the Territory without even understanding what they're looking at.

The Park is at Berry Springs, next door to the Berry Springs nature reserve (see Off the beaten path tips, page 2) and is open daily (except for Christmas Day) from 8:30 am to 6 pm. Latest entry is 4 pm..

It's set in natural bushland and has a shuttle train for those too tired to walk (or too lazy). Pathways wind through the bushland between the exhibits which include a walk through kangaroo enclosures, walk through aviary incorporating a monsoon rainforest setting and tree top platform, nocturnal house, reptile house, monsoon rainforest trail and walkway (watch out for leeches), underwater walk through tunnel aquarium, bird of prey exhibition, billabongs, feral animals such as water buffalo, banteng, and much more. I've put up a large selection of photos, except for the nocturnal house where flash photography would have disturbed the animals, so none were taken of those.

In addition there are also talks and exhibition of birds of prey, talks about reptiles, talks about bats, and Pelican feeding, all done by experts who will also answer all your questions.

Australasian Grebe

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Birds are scattered throughout the park as it is mostly open. The aviary section has enclosed sections of specific environments with birds characteristic of those environments. The enclosures are wired on all sides except for where visitors pass which is glass.

This photo is of an Australasian Grebe in breeding plumage.

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo

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Red-tailed Black Cockatoos are very common in the Top End during the dry season and are often seen eating grass seed along the sides of roads. Wet season they tend to move away from coastal areas apparently to avoid some of the rain.

Unfortunately the glass on this enclosure was dirty, hence the poor quality of the photo.

Walk-in aviary

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Belive it or not, this photo is inside the walk-in aviary. There's a small stream in a monsoon rainforest setting. A ramp and stairways lead up to a platform in the tree canopy which gives a multi-dimensional view of the birds and their environment.

Burdekin Duck

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Although we call this the Burdekin Duck, officially it's known as the Radjah Shelduck. I prefer our name. This one is in the walk-in aviary. They're very common in the Top End, I have a few pairs which visit my garden regularly.

Kori Bustard

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This character is a Kori (or Australian) Bustard, otherwise also known as a Plains Turkey. The turkey name is probably because of the size and that they were popular dinner guests - on the plate preferably. They aren't very common in the Top End but very common in the more arid or inland areas.

The enclosure is fenced but open over top and closer to the kangaroo enclosures rather than the aviaries.

Emu

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Emus are relatively common in the Top End but being such a large bird they haven't taken too well to development activities by people. At that size it's hard to get under fences and without wings there's no chance of flying over.

Emu

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The emu enclosure has the type of scrub you're likely to encounter them in the Top End, basically open woodland and acacia scrub.

Again it's away from the aviaries and closer to the aquarium.