2018 – Part 24 – Fuzzy Animals!
While planning this trip Amber was certain that she wanted to visit as many zoos as possible to be able to see and pet the animals of Australia up close.
Our first stop on was Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. Instead of going as a regular guest, she noted that there was the ability to arrive near their closing time to have a night tour.
Night Tour of Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
The evening tour isn’t your typical self guided walk through a zoo. Booking ahead is essential, and although it includes park admission there is no need to arrive early as you’ll see (almost) all the animals up close. Our tour began shortly after the park had closed and took around 2.5-3 hours in total. We were one of two couples with Bob, one of Bonorong’s keepers who guided us through the evening while we stopped to feed the many animals at the sanctuary.
Before starting our tour I noticed that they are an active sanctuary, where animals come in at any time.
Kangaroos
First up were the Kangaroos. 
This pack of Kangaroos were part of the park when the current Bonorong owners purchased it. As the pack is accustomed to being fed by humans they cannot be released into the wild. Amber was delighted not only feeding the Kangaroos but also with the ability to rub the chest of the Kangaroos where they truly loved that attention.
Echnida
With twilight in full swing we headed over to the Echidna. Again, after a detailed description of the animal by Bob, our guide, we got the opportunity to feed it. This animal appears to be part porcupine and part anteater. In order to eat it would stick out its tongue to grab the food we had in our hand. 
As it fed from our hands its tongue tickled as the tongue would reach out to grab the pieces of food.
Koala
Next up, koalas! After we had the chance to pet it we noticed that our hands smelt like eucalyptus– their main diet. Bob was excellent answering our questions and informing us of the many qualities, abilities each animal had.
Without taking anymore from Amber’s (eventual) post on this, I’ll leave the rest of the tour up to her to post about. The night tour of Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary was worth every penny and the time truly flew as there was much for us to learn about each of the animals, and Bob was excellent answering our questions throughout the evening.
This was a wonderful evening spent getting close to Australia’s many unique animals. Before returning to the hotel we stopped to grab a snack where Amber was all a-glow. She did joke the next day, that she didn’t need to go to anymore zoos as she had seen and pet everything that she wanted for this trip. (Spoiler: we visit two more in Australia and drop by an aquarium in NZ) It was outstanding and impressive. If your travels include Tasmania, I recommend visiting here to see the animals up close.
Read more about our trip by clicking here.