Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

Currumbin began in the 1940s when a local beekeeper started putting out food for rainbow lorikeets to keep them off his flowers, and the daily feeding became a spectacle: hundreds of birds descending onto trays and onto the people holding them. The sanctuary that grew around it is now run by the National Trust of Queensland, and the lorikeet feeding still runs each morning and afternoon. Alongside it are koalas, kangaroos in a walk-through area, crocodiles, Tasmanian devils, cassowaries and a wildlife hospital that treats thousands of injured native animals a year, visible to visitors. A miniature railway, tree-top ropes course and Aboriginal dance performances fill out the site.

History

The beekeeper and flower grower Alex Griffiths began feeding rainbow lorikeets here in 1947 to keep them off his flowers, and the feeding became a spectacle, known as the Currumbin Bird Sanctuary by 1953 and drawing thousands of visitors by the mid-1950s; Griffiths charged no entry, took donations and cared for injured wildlife. In 1956 he led the opposition that defeated a sand-mining plan along Flat Rock Creek, and the National Geographic photographer Paul Zahl brought the lorikeets international fame; a miniature railway, a rock shop and a butterfly display followed in 1964, and the sanctuary was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 September 2009 (Wikipedia, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary).

What's there

• The lorikeet feeding - hundreds of wild rainbow lorikeets twice daily.
• The wildlife hospital - live treatment of injured native animals, visible to visitors.
• The walk-through kangaroos - an open area with hand-feeding.
• The koalas and crocodiles - the standard Australian collection in bushland enclosures.

When to go

April to October for the dry season; summer is hot and humid and animals are inactive in the afternoon. The lorikeet feedings run at fixed times morning and late afternoon. School holidays are busy.

Good to know

Entry is charged and additional experiences cost more. Lorikeets are wild and boisterous, and they defecate freely on people holding trays. Many enclosures are conventional zoo displays. Summer afternoons see most animals asleep.

Nearby

Burleigh Heads lies north; Coolangatta and the airport are south.