Your guide to Tasmania's wildlife sanctuaries

Tasmania is a wildlife playground filled with native animals as unique as they are endearing. 

Part of Tasmania’s charm is spotting these curious creatures in the wild, but the surest way to get up close to the local fauna is to visit a wildlife sanctuary in Tasmania.

Here’s a guide to Tasmania’s ethical wildlife parks, many of them deeply involved in conservation, education and rehabilitation work for the animals they love.

Header image: Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, Tourism Australia & Graham Freeman

Wildlife sanctuaries for conservation and education in Tasmania

Forget old-school zoos.

At animal sanctuaries in Tasmania, you can get up close and personal with Tasmania’s famous animals – from cheeky Tasmanian devils to stout wombats and beady-eyed quolls. These sanctuaries are on a mission to save and rehabilitate animals – and educate us human animals along the way.

Wildlife parks in Tasmania have helped drive efforts to save the Tasmanian devil from Devil Facial Tumour Disease, a transmittable cancer. These passionate folks have monitored wild populations and led breeding programs to help build up populations for the endangered species.

When you visit a Tasmanian wildlife park, watch animals roam freely, in and out of sanctuaries, and learn about the parks’ rehabilitation efforts for injured wildlife. Meet expert guides and learn about the plight of Tasmania’s animals, and the role you can play to help wild Tassie animals thrive in all their furry glory.

Tasmania's top wildlife sanctuaries 

Want to see quirky creatures in action and support local conservation? Try these sanctuaries on for size.

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary

Unique experiences

Just beyond Hobart’s edge in Brighton, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary runs night tours to get you close to nocturnal wildlife, and ‘feeding frenzy’ tours to view them at their ravenous best. Personal 10min encounters with wombats, echidnas, ringtail possums and tawny frogmouths also dial up the cuteness.

Conservation efforts

This Tasmanian wildlife park operates the island's largest 24-hour wildlife rescue service and runs free training sessions for wildlife rescuers. Bonorong also operates an on-site hospital for rescued creatures. You’re welcome to observe the veterinary team at work when you visit, in between being entertained by the animals.

Tasmanian Devil Unzoo

Unique experiences

This groundbreaking Tasmanian wildlife park on Turrakana / Tasman Peninsula was the world’s first ‘unzoo’, being almost fence-free so wild animals can enter and leave the park as they please. Watch Tasmanian devil feedings by day and join a 4WD Devil Tracker Tour by night, viewing hi-tech infrared night cameras in the nearby native forest.

Conservation efforts

Tasmanian Devil Unzoo was part of the first scientific team to identify the threat of Devil Facial Tumour Disease to Tasmanian devils. Through its Devil Tracker program, the park researches the health and movements of the disease-free devil population on Turrakana / Tasman Peninsula and the Forestier Peninsula. Get the thrill of a devil encounter mixed with the feel-good rush of knowing you’re supporting these little devils.

Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary

Unique experiences

With 70 acres of natural habitat in northern Tasmania, this wildlife sanctuary at Mole Creek offers a range of tours, from intimate 45min interactions with wombats and devils to the half-day Trowunna Experience: a personal journey through the sanctuary that shares the conservation efforts helping the animals. Kids can join the half-day Joey Club, a junior ranger program that’ll have them helping out with looking after the animals.

Conservation efforts

Trowunna has been at the forefront of Tasmanian wildlife conservation since 1979 – walking the walk (or ‘hopping the hop’, if you ask the kangaroos) in sustainability. The Sanctuary played a big role in creating the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program and continues to champion Tasmanian devil and spotted-tail quoll conservation, running one of Australia’s top breeding programs.

Devils@Cradle

Unique experiences

This Cradle Mountain-based sanctuary specialises in three beloved island species: the Tasmanian devil, spotted-tail quoll and eastern quoll. Enjoy a personal interaction with the tiniest residents on a Joey Encounter Tour, or try the After Dark Feeding Tour for the atmospheric sight of devils feeding in a group.

Conservation efforts

This animal sanctuary in Tasmania isn’t just a wildlife-lover's dream, it’s an important breeding facility for the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program and Tasmanian Quoll Conservation Program, helping to establish insurance devil populations. Set at the edge of Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, Devils@Cradle has been field monitoring the three species since 2006, collecting and collating data with infrared cameras.

Tips for an ethical and engaging experience with Tasmanian wildlife

1. Timing is everything

Tasmania’s version of a ‘wild nightlife scene’ looks a little different to what you’d expect.

The island has nocturnal animals galore stretching and stirring around dawn and dusk. Want to see wildlife at their most active? Evening visits and tours to wildlife sanctuaries are ideal.

2. Respectful interactions

Make your visit to a Tasmania animal sanctuary enjoyable and sustainable with these simple tips.

Some Tasmanian wildlife sanctuaries will give you a bag of special food to feed the animals – please make sure you don’t feed them anything else. When it comes to encounters both in the wild and in sanctuaries, keep a safe and respectful distance from animals, and don’t touch animals unless the park instructs that it’s fine to do so – this is as much for your safety as it is for the animal’s own comfort.

Don’t ever enter an animal enclosure unless you’re on a specific meet-the-animal tour under the supervision of a park staff member.

And flash photography can spook wildlife, so keep flashes turned off. Take particular care with smartphones – the camera settings sometimes have a life of their own.

3. Supporting conservation

The cost of entry into Tasmanian wildlife sanctuaries helps with the centres’ care and research for animals but there are ways to go beyond admission fees if you want to support their work further.

Most sanctuaries offer the chance to sponsor an animal, accepting donations through their websites. Bonorong runs free training sessions on wildlife rescue – residents and long-term visitors can join its rescue service – and Trowunna has day-long workshops about working with wombats and Tasmanian devils.

Or simply stop by the gift shop as you leave a wildlife sanctuary and buy your own Tassie memento to help fund their vital conservation work.

Creating a lasting impact

Tasmania’s wildlife sanctuaries are exactly that – sanctuaries for the animals that make this island one of the world’s great wildlife havens. Sanctuaries provide you with a guaranteed chance of encountering Tasmania’s unique native creatures. Choosing ethical experiences when you visit is really a win-win: it’s a fun day out for you and your friends and family, plus an opportunity to support conservation efforts and look after the island’s fluffiest residents.