Tasmanian Devil Unzoo — Attraction in Tasman

Paid roughly $93 dollars entry and the person at reception got us excited as there was apparently a tour going on.

Before I go further the concept of unzoo is meant to be that we are the ones in cages/ enclosures and the animals are wild and they chose when they want to be seen NOT the other way around.

The first thing we see while on tour is an enclosure for the Tassie devils. The person doing the tour told jokes that were sexist, demeaning and not needed. He was essentially the only one laughing at his jokes. For example he said that Tassie devils are pregnant for 3 weeks. He then joked that the women on tour would be jealous and the men would wish that pregnancy was the same length of time so they don’t get yelled at as much!

The tour went on to birds and again more sexist jokes that only he was laughing at.

My mum and I then went on our own self guided tour and found kangaroos but again there were obvious fences and doors in the enclosure. Later on in another tour it was explained that the Tassie devils and kangaroos are enclosed there for specific reasons.

The only animals we ended up seeing was basically the Tassie devils and kangaroos as they were captured there. A few birds such as seagulls when we went on the waterfront tour but nothing else.

The buildings and landscaped looked trashy and like no one really cared about it anymore. We sat down for a rest at one of the few table and chairs and the table was rocking. We realised it was only a short time till it fell apart! With the amount of money everyone paid we would expect more quality.

I was excited to see the dome as advertised but when we got there all we could see was dead grass and dead weeds. The Tassie devils were more interested in sleeping than seeing us.

I would not...

Tasmanian Devil Unzoo is somewhere everyone in Australia should visit at least once. As a Wildlife Science student, I came to Tasmania super keen to see some interesting wildlife as Tasmania has plenty of species that aren't found anywhere else in the world. Man was I amazed to see what this place has to offer! I visited in January. The bubble dome is a unique innovation and is what attracted me to visit. When I was in the dome, a devil walked right on top of me and started scratching! Then it curled up right against the dome and went to sleep. I tell everyone at uni about it, some of my lecturers have never heard of a bubble dome before in Australia! It has even inspired me in my assignments. I got the opportunity to get up close with the Tasmanian Devil as well as so many other cool species that aren't found anywhere else in the world, including the Cape Barren Goose, Tasmanian Pademelon and Forester Kangaroo among many more. The price is worthwhile as all of the money goes towards looking after the animals (which is quite expensive), wages and Tasmanian Devil Conservation. The staff there told me that they have recently totally removed the deadly facial tumour disease for Tasmanian Devils in the area! Their research is helping to secure the conservation of endangered animals. Their staff are informative, entertaining, personal, welcoming and share a special bond with the animals. I will...

OK so this is one of those attractions where I feel like the guide makes or breaks the visit. Our guide was great, so we had a really good visit. There aren't alot of Devils, and they are older "retired" devils from other Zoos.

We arrived at 9am on a Sunday and were the only guests. We followed the map and walked around the unzoo, and visited all of the various groups of animals. Pademelons were my favourite. So cute. We did see roos, various birds, and even managed to spot Devils without the guide.

At 10 we went to the dome for feeding. Two other guests home us, so a small group. The Devil at the Dome wouldn't come out for feeding so our guide took us to a different Devil, and she was up for a feed. The guide was informative and we really enjoyed the 30 minutes or so of feeding with the Devil, then walked to the Kangaroo enclosure. All the while the guide was talking about the Devil survival plans, and pointed out various plants, animals and birds. More people started arriving and they were invited to join.

It wasn't a polished big production, and there aren't easy to spot animals everywhere here. But taking time to walk around a rustic former farm turned animal sanctuary was a nice way to spend a couple of hours. It felt...