Taronga Western Plains Zoo — Attraction in Dubbo

This was single handedly one of the worst experiences of my life.

What was meant to be a fun day at a zoo, seeing animals and shows turned into my personal version of hell.

First of all, at an animal zoo you expect to see you know - animals. I can count on both hands the amount of animals I saw collectively in the ENTIRE zoo. In 4 and a half hours - I saw 1 scared cheetah, the head of single lion, the backsides of 2 zebras, 3 giraffe, 2 meerkats spread out over 2 encloses and a random kangaroo that was probably trying to escape. I saw more dead animals on the side of the road on the drive to Dubbo than I saw in the zoo and I saw those for free.

Secondly, despite all the alleged shows and talks and feedings - I didn’t see a single staff member anywhere at any time except for the staff at the waterhole cafe. Like not one. Unless all the staff were wearing their clocks of invisibility that day in which case - my bad. Some random kid was throwing rocks into the meerkat enclose and we had to go and make him stop ourselves because there was no staff to advise. Probably the only time I was glad to see an empty enclosure to be honest.

Thirdly - the cafe. Understaffed, overcrowded and despite the many signs saying they were cashless, their eftpos wasn’t working and you could only pay cash. Luckily for me I had some cash on me however they didn’t communicate this to anyone in the long AF line AT ALL prior - so I watched multiple people standing in line for 30+ minutes and then leave angry, frustrated and hungry. And naturally - ridiculously overpriced and the most average food . Like if you don’t take your own food be prepared to remortgage your house for some warm chips and a dry sausage roll.

Overall it felt like i went on an extremely long, extremely boring bush walk/hike that I didn’t want to be on that cost me a small fortune. I have never wanted to leave something more in my life that this zoo and Im divorced so I know about being stuck in something you don’t want to be for too long.

If you value your sanity and your money go literally Anywhere...

Amazing experience! We stayed at the Taronga Western Plains Dubbo Zoo in one of the Zoofari Lodges overlooking the African Savannah. If you can stay in one of these I would highly recommend it. From the moment of arrival and check-in we knew it was going to be a very special stay, we did not know how special it actually would turn out to be!!

I don't want to give away any spoilers as to the experience and activities so instead I would like to mention a few key things.

Firstly (and in no particularl order!) the staff, keepers and volunteers and everyone we met that guided and greeted us are extremely friendly and welcoming and very passionate about their 'jobs' and their love for the animals and what they do is very evident!

Secondly, the animal encounters are something we will never forget! And being able to sit on your deck and see Rhinos and Giraffes and Antelope and Blackbuck AND so many other animals so close to you was surreal, and also something we will never forget!

Thirdly, the night tour and morning tour I would highly recommend! As I said earlier without any spoilers the Zoofari just kept on delivering and blowing our expectations out of the water! I also would strongly recommend that if you can stay 2 nights it would give you more time to soak in your surroundings and more R&R as there are so many things to do that you do not want to miss out on!

Lastly, other things that deserve a mention. The talented chef and her meals that are included in the price were amazing!! The tours, 2 day entry into the Zoo are included, 10% off in the gift shop for Zoofari Guests. The accommodation was stunning! The photos do not do justice to how beautiful and luxurious it is! I HIGHLY Recommend that if The Taronga Western Plains Dubbo Zoo is on your bucket list, the Zoofari experience will...

We came out to Dubbo in the July School holidays to visit the zoo with the kids. We’ve talked about it for a number of years and finally booked it in. We were considering staying at the zoo but you would need to remortgage the house to afford it so we choose much more affordable accommodation in town.

We were considering booking the carts to get around as one of our kids has a disability and can’t ride a bike but they were all booked out for our visit. This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise as you can easily navigate the park if you have your own car and save some cash on the carts.

It was super easy to ride around the loop on the bikes with the other kids and only one spot where we had to drop the gears to push up the hill. Was good being able to ride the bikes up to each enclosure and plenty of bike racks throughout the park to leave the bikes.

We did the safari adventure but was a bit disappointed this was an additional cost on top of the park entry, surely this should be included, just feels like something you shouldn’t have to pay extra for.

Overall the enclosures are great with heaps of room for the animals to roam but like most zoos the animals do look a bit bored and need some action. All the herding animals are too relaxed as there is no predator threats and the predators just chilling as they don’t have to hunt anymore. I’m sure punters would pay good money to see the animals in a more real world environment. Imagine seeing the big cats in action stalking their pray, now that would bring in the crowds. Anyways, I’ll just saviour the time I got to see a white lion take down a water hen in its enclosure many years ago at a different zoo……priceless.

Overall an enjoyable day out...