Zoo owners Mark and Lisa Treweek, with their two sons Cooper right and William left.
Location &
History
Situated three hours from Melbourne and a mere 7 km from Halls Gap town the zoo is well sign posted and easily accessible off the Halls Gap/Ararat road.The zoo is set on 52 acres of land, and features over 120 species and 500 animals from all over the world, from tiny marmosets to gigantic giraffe and everything in between. Nestled under the shadows of the Grampians Mountains as the backdrop the zoo is well vegetated with large enclosures. Halls Gap Zoo was started by Colin and Liz Konig as Wallaroo Wildlife Park and was opened to the public on Boxing Day 1982. In 1988 it was taken on and branded the Halls Gap Zoo by Daryl and Barb Panther. In 2006 the Wildlife Park & Zoo was saved by the fire fighters when a large fire that started by lightning within the Grampians National Park spread into private land. During the several days of the fire many injured animals such as Koalas, Goanna’s and birds were brought to the park for treatment and rehabilitation and when ready reintroduced back into the wild. In 2007 they sold the Zoo to Greg and Yvonne Culell who were responsible for a wide range of upgrades and new exhbits and a new front entry facility for visitors.
Recognition of the Zoo’s importance to the region was acknowledged in 2011 being the recipients of “Outstanding Contribution to Tourism” and “Outstanding Product or Service” in the Powercor Business Achievements Awards. This was followed up with success in the state wide competition “Victorian 2014 RACV Awards”, being a runner up Tourist Attraction. The Zoo has now joined a number of the regional breeding programmes including Cheetah, Rhino and is one of the most prolific breeders of Spot-tailed Quoll. In July 2023 the Zoo was taken over by Mark and Lisa Treweek, with their two sons Cooper and William, who in their first few months have already invested significantly in animal welfare upgrades and a new exhibit for the saltwater crocodile. An immediate winner for visitor welfare has been a food and beverage outlet onsite that includes a good coffee.
Purpose
Halls Gap Zoo aims to contribute to conservation through immersive experiences, education, and endangered species breeding programs, whilst promoting and implementing contemporary animal welfare practices in accordance with guidelines issued by the Zoo and Aquarium Association of Australasia, and daily utilising the five-domain model in animal husbandry practises.
OUR
TEAM
Mark and Lisa Treweek are the directors and owners of the zoo who together with their two sons, Cooper and William, have made the Zoo their life. “We bought a zoo” and we are very proud of what we have managed to achieve since buying the zoo in July 2023. Our two boys speak so casually about their parents owning a zoo, and they love every minute they get to spend here with us. We have a great team of staff who are passionate about sharing their animal care with our visitors and are constantly improving on the best standards of care we can achieve for our wildlife.
The Zoo employs about twenty staff over a range of areas including our visitors, animals and the grounds which includes maintenance and horticulture. Being a small team, many of the team are cross trained and able to undertake the work across different areas including the husbandry of the animals.
Mila
Keeping Team SupervisorI have been working in zoos just over 10 years and started with my passion which is reptiles. I now have the amazing opportunity to lead our animal care team in providing the best care possible and looking to constantly improve on this. Sharing our wildlife and educating our visitors is at the center of what we focus on for our team and species.
Sherrin
Primate KeeperSince I was little, I wanted to work with primates and big cats, and I started working with primates in 2007. I love sharing our cheeky troops with our visitors, creating enrichment and training our primates as part of great animal care.
VACANCIES
Work with us
While the Zoo employs staff across all the areas of operation mentioned above, the animal keeping team make up the largest portion of staff. Keeping jobs are highly sought after and the Zoo has created a Trainee Keeper position which allows for young people entering the industry to work across a variety of areas of the operations including admissions before being trained on animal keeping. This results in staff who have a wider awareness and view of the operations including customer service and visitor needs, while they gain valuable experience for their career as a zoo keeper. The number of trainees is carefully balanced with experienced staff.
Volunteer
Volunteers are an important part of the team, and we welcome their involvement and enthusiasm. Volunteering at Halls Gap Zoo is a great way to gain experience and further your knowledge within the zoo keeping industry.
You will get the chance to work alongside our dynamic, hard-working team, from whom you can expand your knowledge base and develop your own professional and personal skills.
Register to become a volunteer
OUR
PARTNERS
We work closely with our regional partners and stakeholders across fields such as tourism, animal care and education.
Follow us @hallsgapzoo
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Today we are looking at the Southern White Rhino:
🦏 Their horns are continually growing and is made from keratin just like our hair and nails.
🦏 They are grazers
🦏They can run up to 40kmh per hour
🦏 They weigh up to 2700kgs and babies are born weighing around 60kgs
Photo of the handsome Kapamba celebrating his 29th birthday with some presents. #grampians #nationalpark #visitmelbourneaustralia
Today is also International Tasmanian Devil Day.
We have 3 devils here at Halls Gap Zoo and you may see our new boys Messi and Knuckles out exploring their enclosure or Arti next door trying to suss out what the new boys are up to.
Messi and knuckles came from Aussie Ark who do an amazing job of breeding Tassie devils to help conserve this endangered species. In the wild devil populations have significantly reduced due to the Devil facial tumour disease, it is unfortunately a contagious cancer which is spread when they interact with each other primarily through biting but through breeding programs like Aussie Arks we are able to breed animals that are tumour free and have a healthy population of devils to conserve the species while scientists work on how to stop the disease spreading.
📸 keeper Darci
🐊🐊NEW ENCOUNTER🐊🐊 We are very excited to announce that we are now offering crocodile encounters where you can enter the croc pool and have a ride on Jugs. Some might say this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Don’t worry we have safety at the forefront of our minds so riders must leave phones, jewellery, shoes and hats outside as to not give jugs a stomach ache.
Everyone gets to watch and at the same time we will also have one of our keepers doing a croc feed talk at the front of the exhibit.
Jugs can’t wait to meat you all!
Summer is over and we can slowly start to relax a little bit after such a stressful few months with the fires in the Grampians impacting the wildlife, the residents, visitors and all the surrounding businesses.
Now that the school holidays are almost here there is no better time to visit to show your support to the whole community the fires are gone the weather is beautiful the gift shop is stocked and all the animals are ready to welcome everyone for a busy school holidays we have lots planned from keeper talks, new encounters, Easter fun and even some animal birthday parties planned so lock in a date for a day trip or better yet come stay for a few nights to really soak in the Grampians and go on a hike, eat some ice cream, let someone else cook and clean the dishes for you and relax with a nice walk around the Zoo and book in to meet our friendly animals for an encounter you will remember-even the kids will go back to school remembering the meerkat they fed or the rhino they got to pat instead of telling their teacher they had McDonald’s for lunch one day.
Pre book for encounters via our website
Check out Parks Victoria website for hikes that are open within the National Park
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Today is all about the beautiful Emperor Tamarins 🥰
🐒 Females will usually give birth to twins and the whole family participate in raising the babies, they will carry them on their backs and pass them back to mum for a feed.
🐒 They live in family groups of around 15 animals
🐒 They have claws rather than nails and this adaptation allows them to cling to the trees
🐒Remember Monkeys are not pets and interacting with ‘cute’ monkey videos on social media contributes to the illegal pet trade.
🌟🌟Come and meet our baby wombat Sprout before he is wheeled away to his new home 🥹
Sprout is our very loveable and cheeky wombat and during an encounter you will get to pat him, watch him get the zoomies, take him for a little walk (unless the grass is especially delicious that day) and learn facts about all wombats and the 4 that call Halls Gap Zoo home. 🌟🌟
🔥 We are currently taking bookings till the end of school holidays.
✨✨FAST FACT FRIDAY✨✨
This week is all about Quokkas.
🌿 Quokkas are actually a species of Wallaby.
🌿They can go for up to a month without drinking water as they get most of their moisture requirement from the plants they eat.
🌿Quokkas can climb trees, believe it or not these guys can actually climb up to 2m to access some of their favourite leaves from trees.
Our little Quokka Ember is getting so big so quickly and even though she isn’t on display just yet you can book an encounter with her and get that perfect Quokka selfie and then feed her one of her favourite treats.
Visit the link below to book:
https://hallsgapzoo.com.au/encounters/
Week 5 of Fast Facts Friday, and we are looking up to our Giraffes. Literally!
🦒 Male giraffes are larger than females, weighing in at up to 1,900kg and often at a height of more than 5 meters tall.
🦒 They have a prehensile tongue which can extend 45cm.
🦒 Giraffe average 2 hours sleep a day, one of the shortest sleep requirements out of all mammals.
🦒 After 15 months of gestation, the female will give birth standing up. The young will drop to the floor and then stand, walk and feed within a few hours of being born. They are around 1.8m at birth and weigh 60-70kgs.
We have three giraffes at the Zoo who are all very observant. They know when someone is watching them.
Happy International Women’s Day! 🌸 Today, we celebrate the strength, resilience, and achievements of women everywhere, but especially the amazing women we have on our team here at the Zoo who work through rain, hail and shine lifting bales of hay, carrying heavy branches, drilling holes, getting covered in dirt and mud and so much more to make sure our animals are cared for. Keep shining and keep supporting one another 💖💖
#internationalwomensday #lifteachotherup
🍀We are open every day this long weekend 🍀
Come and meet our animals, all our encounters are available this weekend (unless already booked), grab an ice cold drink from our food van 🧋 and enjoy seeing our animals exploring their enclosures in the sunshine ☀️
#longweekend #longweekendadventures #melbourne #hallsgapzoo #nationalpark #hallsgap #grampiansnationalpark #visitmelbourne
Fast Fact Friday’s subject for week 4 is our Meerkats, which is infact a type of mongoose, rather than a type of cat.
😎 Meerkats are highly observant and will use their long tail like a tripod with their legs to maintain a steady stance and higher vantage point.
😎 They live in groups of up to 30 individuals, where they will take turns in each role within the mob. This includes caring for the young, foraging or hunting, and sentry duty (standing guard for predators such snakes or eagles).
😎 Meerkat eyes are surrounded by dark circles to reduce glare from the sun. These ‘natural sunglasses’ allow them to spot predators easier in the open desert.
😎 They dig ‘bolt holes’ which are safe trenches for them to escape to in emergencies when they are foraging.
Our cheeky boys love their peas and corn. Hence, we had to name one of them Peas and his Brother was dubbed Corn.
