Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
| Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary | |
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Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
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| Location | 28 Tomewin Street, Currumbin, Queensland, Australia |
| Coordinates | 28°08′06″S 153°29′17″E / 28.135°S 153.488°ECoordinates: 28°08′06″S 153°29′17″E / 28.135°S 153.488°E |
| Built | 1947 onwards |
| Official name: Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary | |
| Type | state heritage (landscape, built) |
| Designated | 18 September 2009 |
| Reference no. | 602720 |
| Significant period | 1947 onwards |
| Significant components | watercourse – creek, aviary, animal enclosure/s, pens/cages, trees – remnant scrub, zoological garden, miniature tram/train, other – recreation/entertainment: component |
 Location of Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland
Location of Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland
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| Date opened | 1947 |
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| Location | Currumbin, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia |
| Website | www |
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is a heritage-listed zoological garden at 28 Tomewin Street, Currumbin, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1947 onwards. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 September 2009. The sanctuary is world-renowned for its feeding of huge flocks of free-flying wild rainbow lorikeets, which come to the sanctuary to feast off the special mixture which the lorikeets eat.
The multitude of events, shows and attractions include dingo encounters, free flight bird shows and feeding of the park's massive saltwater crocodile. The park also contains a serious aspect of its work and exhibits, and behind the scenes includes a state-of-the-art veterinary and rehabilitation hospital.
The sanctuary was opened as the Currumbin Bird Sanctuary by Alex Griffiths in 1947 as a scheme to stop the local lorikeet population destroying his flower plantations. The lorikeets still flock to the sanctuary twice daily to be fed by visitors. The sanctuary now houses one of the largest collections of Australian native species in the world. Exhibits include Tasmanian devils, a reptile house and the largest walk-through aviary in the Southern Hemisphere. The sanctuary also has a miniature railway that has been operating since 1964. In 2009 an adventure park course opened. In May 2011, the hospital has appealed for donations and government support as it faces a funding shortage that may force it to turn away injured wildlife.
The Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary was established by beekeeper and floriculturist Alex Griffiths in 1947 as a small-scale tourist venture featuring lorikeet feeding displays in which tourists could participate. By at least 1953 it was known as the Currumbin Bird Sanctuary and by the mid-1950s had become an iconic tourist attraction on the Gold Coast. The place had evolved by the early 1970s to offer visitors a variety of experiences, including:
In 1976 Griffiths gifted the sanctuary to the National Trust of Queensland (the Trust), and the terms of this exchange and its ongoing operation are set out in the Currumbin Bird Sanctuary Act 1976. The place was renamed the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in 1995. It continues to be operated by the Trust as a nature-based tourism enterprise and is recognised as one of the oldest of its kind to remain in operation in the state.
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