Taronga Zoo

Taronga Zoo

Logo
Taronga Zoo entrance
Date opened	7 October 1916
Location	Bradleys Head Road, Mosman, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	33°50′36″S 151°14′28″E / 33.84333°S 151.24111°E / -33.84333; 151.24111Coordinates: 33°50′36″S 151°14′28″E / 33.84333°S 151.24111°E / -33.84333; 151.24111
Land area	28 hectares (69 acres)
No. of animals	4,000+
No. of species	350+
Memberships	ZAA
Website	www.zoo.nsw.gov.au

Taronga Zoo is the city zoo of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and is located on the shores of Sydney Harbour in the suburb of Mosman. It was officially opened on 7 October 1916. Taronga Zoo is managed by the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales, under the trading name Taronga Conservation Society, along with its sister zoo, the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.

Divided into eight zoogeographic regions, the 28-hectare (69-acre) Taronga Zoo is home to over 4,000 animals of 350 species. It has a zoo shop, a cafe, and information centre.

The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales opened the first public zoo in New South Wales in 1884 at Billy Goat Swamp in Moore Park, on a site now occupied by Sydney Boys High School and Sydney Girls High School. Inspired by a 1908 visit to the Hamburg Zoo, the secretary of the zoo, Albert Sherbourne Le Souef, envisioned a new zoo based on the bar-less concept. After realising that the Moore Park site was too small, the NSW Government granted 43 acres (17 ha) of land north of Sydney Harbour. A further 9 acres (3.6 ha) were later granted in 1916.

Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning beautiful view.

The "Rustic Bridge" was opened in 1915 and was one of Taronga Zoo's earliest landscape features. It was the main way in which visitors could cross the natural gully that it spans. Early photographs show it as a romantic pathway secluded by plantings. The rustic effect was created by embedding stones in the wall and like the aquarium, its design was reminiscent of Italian grottoes.