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.
While we are not currently hiring, we encourage potential applicants to send in their resumes for future considerations.
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
✨✨✨FAST FACT FRIDAY✨✨✨
An absolute Aussie Icon, the Tasmanian Devil for this week’s facts.
-Tasmanian devils have the strongest bite force relative to their size of any mammal in the world. It is even strong enough to bite through metal (think of that next time you struggle to eat a toblerone)
-They give birth to up to 40 babies at once…but they only have 4 teats so it is a race for survival and the first 4 to make it will then spend the next 3 months in mums pouch before starting to venture out.
-They are the largest carnivorous marsupial and they eat every part of their prey.
Be sure to stop by the devil enclosure next time you are here and listen for their unique sounds.
#tassiedevil #aussieanimals #hallsgapzoo #grampians #schoolholidays #activity #visitmelbourne #weekendsway
✨✨✨FAST FACT FRIDAY✨✨✨
This is Miss piggy our Pig Nosed Turtle
Did you know
🐽 Pig nosed turtles use their snout as a sensory organ to detect food in murky waters
🐽They can weigh up to 30kgs and get to 70cms long 😱
🐽They have papillae on their throats which helps them absorb oxygen from the water
#hallsgapzoo #grampians #pignoseturtle
Step aside amateurs this empress shoots in RAW 👑
Caught Yesinia our Emperor Tamarin behind the lens today, taking photos like she works for National Geographic, she demanded a banana break and a final say on edits and while the lighting was perfect I did see a roll of the eyes when Presto our other emperor got distracted and ruined the shot.
Can’t say for sure who hired her but the shots are stunning and that’s all that matters.
#cameraqueen #behindthescenes #emperortamarin #hallsgapzoo #cutephotographer
✨✨✨FAST FACT FRIDAY✨✨✨
EMUS-
🪶After the female lays her eggs the male will then lay on the eggs for the next 8 weeks and will raise the babies without the female.
🪶Emus cannot fly
🪶They are one of the largest birds standing at up to 2m tall
🪶Eggs are a stunning dark green colour.
You can see our male here laying on his eggs, he will barely eat or drink while he incubates his babies.
🐾 We are open everyday this long weekend 🐾
Bring the whole family we are open from 10am-5pm everyday. Enjoy some keeper talks or book in for an up close encounter where you can pat a Rhino, feed a cheetah, have a red panda walk across your lap 🫢 Check out our website for a full list of encounters we offer.
#longweekend #hallsgap #grampians #encounters #animalencounter
Happy 2nd birthday to Messi and Knuckles our 2 gorgeous Tasmanian devils 🎉🎉
Keepers had a bit of fun making some birthday enrichment with some yummy smells for them to enjoy their day with.
Come down and see our 2 newest devils, they have settled in quite well and have made themselves at home.
📸 keeper Darci
#hallsgapzoo #encounters #visitmelbourne #grampians
✨✨✨FAST FACT FRIDAY✨✨✨
It is Bearded Dragon week!
🪵 The females will lay about 11-30 eggs per clutch and take up to 80 days to hatch.
🪵 They are omnivores feeding on plants, flowers, invertebrates and small lizards.
🪵 Like most reptiles they rely on the sun to regulate their body temperature and when the winter comes around they go into ‘brumation’ which is similar to hibernation in mammals.
Today is World Otter Day! There are 13 species of otters in the world and here at Halls Gap Zoo we have the Asian small clawed otters and even though they are the smallest species of otter they have the biggest personalities. You will see our girls playing in their pool, eating at their waterfall or mum paddy playing with her favourite rock.
Have you ever wanted to hold an otters hand? We are the only place in Victoria where you can do that during an encounter with our beautiful and cheeky girls.
As Asian small clawed otters are classed as vulnerable in the wild we need to make sure we protect their habitats and keep our waterways clean so they can thrive in the wild and we are able to enjoy these incredible animals for generations to come. Visit our website to book book an encounter #hallsgapzoo #worldotterday #protectwildlife #encounter
It was national volunteer week this week and we would like to acknowledge the hard work all our lovely volunteers put into the zoo, they get dirty, they get sweaty, walking all day long but their dedication has a big impact for our animals and the keepers alike, hopefully being rewarded with animal cuddles, knowing they are making a difference and learning as they go makes it all worthwhile.
So thankyou to each and everyone one of you.
In the lead up to winter our maintenance team have been busy creating new shelters for our wallabies and new hot boxes for our small primates to keep them nice and cosy during those cold nights, as you can see I think the animals approve.
We are constantly looking for ways to update enclosures that improves the welfare of our animals and we have so much planned but we couldn’t do it without the support of you, when you visit, spend money in the gift shop or have an encounter with an animal that money goes back into the zoo so we are able to make these improvements so Thankyou for your support.
These animals deserve the best and that is what our keepers strive to achieve day in and day out.
📸 keeper Maddison and Sherrin
Keeper Larissa has some exciting news for everyone.
These fascinating animals are now on display and ready to meet you.
With its gorgeous grey feathers they often blend in and just look like part of the tree so you will have to concentrate to find them.
They are sure to capture your heart just like they already have our keepers.
Our animal care team have been working hard to ensure a smooth and comfortable transition into their new home and they have settled in perfectly.
Come visit and be among the first to see our newest residents.
📸keeper Rhys
#Hallsgapzoo #grampians #visitmelbourne #tawnyfrogmouths
Happy Mother’s Day from the Zoo!
They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and in Asha’s case, it’s more like mini me’s running around the exhibit!
Motherhood is all about love, protection, and a whole lot of lookalikes.
Here’s to all the wild, wonderful mums out there we hope you have a great day and get to relax.
When you’re visiting see if you can spot the difference between Asha and her daughters or even spot one of our newer mums, hint: you might see a little face poking out of a pouch.
#mothersday #grampians #present #hallsgapzoo #visitmelbourne
