Taronga Zoo tours: The best experiences at Sydney’s best zoo

The best Taronga Zoo tours are the Junior Keeper, Cadet Keeper and Keeper For A Day experiences. But they’re expensive, and it’s questionable whether they’re a great way to spend your money in Sydney.

Taronga Zoo in Sydney is justifiably regarded as one of the best zoos in the world. This is partly due to its magnificent position on Sydney Harbour, easily reachable on the Taronga Zoo ferry. The giraffes can look out towards the CBD, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Manly ferries and harbour islands.

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Why is Taronga Zoo so good?

But Taronga, found at the end of Bradley’s Head Road in the North Shore suburb of Mosman, is also great because of how the animal enclosures are designed. This is not a grim old-fashioned zoo with animals behind bars. Wherever possible earth banks and moats have been used instead of cages and fences. This is partly to improve viewing, and partly to keep animals as close to their preferred natural environment as possible.

There’s also a commendable array of experiences on offer. Some of these, such as talks from keepers, are fairly standard at any zoo. But many of the Taronga Zoo tours on offer go much further than that.

13 brilliant experiences in Sydney you should book

The Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains.

(💲Great value 💲) Tick off several bucket list items on a highlights-packed Blue Mountains day tour.
Get perfect views of the world’s most beautiful city on a Sydney Harbour helicopter tour.
Save money with a multi-attraction pass.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Enjoy the romance of a tall ship cruise on Sydney Harbour.
Eat all you can at the Skyfeast at the top of Sydney Tower.
See migrating humpbacks – on a whale-watching cruise.
(Highly recommended ✅) Go behind the scenes of Australia’s most famous building on an Opera House tour.
Dine as the city lights up on sunset dinner cruise around the harbour.
Combine beers and stories on a historic pubs tour through the convict-era Rocks district.
Stand on your board and catch waves during Bondi Beach surfing lessons.
Go to wombat and kangaroo-spotting hotspots on a Southern Highlands tour.
Enjoy Sydney’s wild side on a Manly snorkelling & nature walk.
(🥇Top choice in Sydney) And, best of all, paddle to hidden beaches on a harbour kayaking adventure.

Taronga Zoo tour options

The wild ropes course, costing $39 for adults and $34 for children, offers walls to climb, suspension bridges to teeter across and zipwires to whizz along. It’s plenty of fun, but not an experience distinctive to the zoo – there are plenty of specialist rope and zipwire parks across Australia.

There are also several animal encounters at Taronga Zoo. These include feeding penguins, getting close to Sumatran tigers and getting a photo with the koalas.

For children, the junior keeper and cadet keeper programmes are great. These day-long experiences cost $110, and are aimed at teaching kids how to care for native Australian wildlife. Taronga keepers take participants through the daily behind the scenes routines.

Taronga Zoo tours: Keeper for a day

But the best of the Taronga Zoo tours, certainly for adults, is the Keeper For A Day experience. This program gets visitors in a small group of up to four people. Participants are assigned to a senior keeper, then go behind the scenes to meet the animals. Jobs to take part in include food preparation and designing stimulating activities for the animals. This lasts most of the day, starting at 8.30am on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Be warned, though – the Keeper For A Day experience is the most expensive of the Taronga Zoo tours. And it’s hard to justify spending $350 on it when you’ve got other experiences such as the Bridgeclimb or seaplane flights competing for your Australian dollars.

Taronga Zoo opens at 9.30am. Prices and times are correct at the time of writing, but subject to change in the future.