Hamilton Island Wildlife — Attraction in Whitsundays

Not one to write reviews but thought I’d give an overview for anyone considering visiting this place. 1 star because the staff are lovely and are quite passionate about their job. Now for the animals, spent all of 10 minutes walking through the park. Could’ve been a nice leisurely stroll but even I felt trapped knowing I could leave so god knows how the animals feel. The gorgeous Adult Saltwater Crocodile had what seemed like not even a bathtub to sit in, most of the reptiles in the cage area were in tiny tanks with no specialised lighting or real plants, found some tree frogs opposite the crocodile enclosure in a tank with no live plants, no running water and looking very dehydrated (they should be in a terrarium type environment), the Black Cockatoos at the back of the park stuck in quite a small aviary with no fresh foliage and very limited sunlight which was evident by the conditions of their feathers. I will say the Eclectus Parrot aviary when you first walk in is probably the best enclosure in there as it had foliage, sun, misters and plenty for them to entertain themselves with. It truly is so sad to see places like these that obviously need and deserve more funding but are put at the bottom of the list of things to keep maintained. As an Ornithologist and Animal Ecologist this place is a reminder of not to visit places like these and instead pay the extra money to see animals like this in the wild (although most of the species you will not as they’re disappearing). To the park and staff, keep doing what you’re doing and advocating for the animals, you’re all...

WARNING TO ALL know what you are getting into when you step foot into this restaurant.

The principle of animal rights is nothing new – smart people throughout the ages have understood that animals aren’t ours to use and abuse!

This restaurant has koalas that people can view while you eat - the WORST is seeing a line of at least 30-40 people PAYING $40 each to handle these beautiful & naturally sleeping animals. There are ten koalas in total and they trade them off every day for human pleasure. THESE ANIMALS ARE BEING EXPLOITED FOR MONEY. One after the other - two koalas are being traded off to people and an employee then gets with 2 feet of these koalas with a professional camera FLASH starts going off for at least 3 seconds - again THIS GOES ON AT LEAST 30 - 40 times. I can only imaging how traumatic & starling this is for each koala. Let alone being man handled by all the tourists. This is animal abuse.

THE ANIMALS IN OUR WORLD EXIST FOR THEIR OWN REASONS! THEY WERE NOT MADE FOR HUMANS TO EXPLOIT THEM GREED AND SELF PLEASURES.

You don’t have to love animals to recognize that it is immoral and unjust to exploit them. But if you do love animals but you continue to participate in their exploitation - you need to rethink your idea of...

We regretfully went for breakfast and were apalled on how the koalas kept in an enclosure with people flashing their cameras over and over at them. My daughter pointed out that the koalas had a "wet bottom" which is indication of the koala decimated by an infrection caused by a known koala disease. She was visibly upset but more so when we drove by and saw a huge line up of people waiting to hold the koalas!! Koalas were being hanged from one person to the next for photo ops despite their illness!!

Understandably and sadly, the majority of the koala population have this infection. However, it is inhumane to keep these animals for profit and not be concerned about their well being and the fact that they are getting extinct, despite whatever accreditation they have.

Please do NOT support this and do not pay to hold koalas... while there are still...