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Taronga – Australian and World Wildlife in the Heart of Sydney · GowayPro Travel Tales

• 0:00
  Australia is known for its peculiar wildlife, wombats, kangaroos, emus, wallabies and platypus.
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  The Teronga Conservation Society Australia is more than a place to see exotic wildlife from Australia and all over the world.
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  It is a not-for-profit sanctuary to protect our furry friends and the not-so-furry ones as well.
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  Teronga Zoo might be one of the best located zoos in the world with stunning views over Sydney Harbour.
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  But dig a little deeper and you'll see that this century-old institution has evolved into a world-leading conservation organization dedicated to securing a future for wildlife and
• 0:39
  people.
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  Did you know you could stay overnight at Taronga?
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  I didn't.
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  You can choose from the elegant wildlife retreat at Taronga set against the backdrop of koalas and the stunning Sydney Harbour.
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  Or take a walk on the wild side at Roar and Snore, an unforgettable glamping experience
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  that let you explore the zoo after dark.
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  Let's explore the Taronga experience.
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  Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goay and welcome to the GoayPro Travel Tale Podcast.
• 1:14
  Travel far and travel often.
• 1:19
  Hello everyone.
• 1:20
  Welcome to the Go Way Pro Travel Tales podcast.
• 1:25
  Today you are speaking to and with a gaggle of Australians.
• 1:29
  uh I'm not sure if that's the right term, but we are speaking to the right people about this because we are speaking to Taronga, Sydney and with us today all the way.
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  And they're actually live in Sydney at about 8.30 in the morning on Tuesday.
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  We're recording this 6.30 at night on Monday night in Toronto.
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  We have Monica Townsend who is the Trade Sales Manager of Tronga Sydney and we have Nick Boyle who is the Executive Director of Tronga Sydney.
• 1:59
  So welcome, oh sorry, hang on, I missed someone who's actually here in Toronto.
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  We have Meg Boyd who is our Commercial Manager for our Down Under product in Toronto as well.
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  So Meg, one second.
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  Monica and Nick, welcome from Sydney.
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  How you doing?
• 2:14
  Very well, thank you Don and Megan.
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  Thanks for having us.
• 2:17
  Thanks so much guys, it's lovely to be chatting to you.
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  Yeah, our pleasure.
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  And for those watching our video version, you'll see that Monica and Nick are sitting um at Tronger itself, which you can sort of see in the background, maybe if Nick and Monica
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  sort of split for a minute.
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  There you go.
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  There's Sydney in the background, the Harbour Bridge just off next.
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  See you in your cutthroat!
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  it is quite a view.
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  We're very lucky to have this view from anywhere when you're on Taronga.
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  So yeah, we're very, very lucky.
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  We're actually coming live from the Roar and Snore site um down in the arm part of the zoo.
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  Okay, and we'll get into what the actual raw and snore is a little bit later on in our conversation.
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  uh So what we are talking about today, a lot of people might know what Taronga is, and we've gone Taronga, Sydney.
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  We will use the Z word so people get an idea of what we're talking about.
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  It's Taronga Zoo, and it's one of the best located uh conservation areas for animals in the world.
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  And as we can see here for those watching, it's literally on the shores of Sydney.
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  Sydney harbour so you can get to it by ferry from Sydney and you can drive to it from the northern from the northern access point by road as well the Strong has been around For
• 3:36
  what is it like you say generalization guys?
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  About a century old, but do you know how many years ago?
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  I'm sure you do know how many years how many years has stronger actually been in existence
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  a little bit more than a century.
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  actually, uh the original Taronga, before it was called Taronga, was in Moorpark in the middle of Sydney and in 1912 they identified a new site which is here in Mossman in Sydney
• 4:02
  over the other side of the harbour and it was open to the public in 1916.
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  So we celebrated our 100th birthday in 2016.
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  Well, that's the way I had like I grew up around the eastern suburbs and I've been to Moor Park for rugby games and playing and watching.
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  I had no idea that's where it originally was located, nor that it moved in 1916, which is the middle of World War I, which is an interesting time for a.
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  There's fascinating history there, absolutely fascinating history and there's still remnants of the old park there at Moor Park at Sydney Girls High School.
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  You can see some of the remnants of the old park but it was identified that it needed to expand both in remit and also in space so they identified what was then considered swamp
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  land in Mossman which is actually probably the most sought after and lucrative real estate in all of Australia.
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  Well, I was actually going to ask, I know it's 1916 we're talking and I'm a big fan of early Australian history and I've seen photos of that area back then and there was almost
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  nothing out there compared today.
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  But I would assume by extension what we term the Northern Beaches, which is North Sydney, Mossman, where you guys are at the time, where you are now situated was free land, or not
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  free land, but there was nothing there, which is why it was claimed by Taronga.
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  Is that fair?
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  right that's fair and it predates the Sydney Harbour Bridge as well so it was difficult to get across to at that time which is why the the ferries became very important and they're
• 5:33
  still a key tenant of how people come and visit us here.
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  Okay, so can I ask, because I don't know this either, stronger the word, what does it mean, where does it come from?
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  I'm going to guess it's aboriginal in origin.
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  It is and the etymology of it is not, there's been a few different interpretations of it.
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  The one that we use most often is uh shoulder, which represents the curving of the landscape and also talks to the views as well.
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  So I don't believe there's a perfect English translation, but a shoulder that represents the landscape with the views is what Taronga means.
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  Okay.
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  And I gather that name was given to it when the move was made from Moorpark to where it is now.
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  That's right, that name's been in place for a long time.
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  So I grew up visiting there.
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  you know, for total honesty here, Meg, who's a fellow Aussie, I say you got a gaggle of Aussies today.
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  She's from Melbourne though, originally.
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  So she's actually never been to Taronga.
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  But I grew up with it being in Sydney as a going there many, many times as a school excursion and also just for my own pleasure because it, we'll discuss it in a minute, has
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  some very exotic wildlife outside of the Australian endemic wildlife there.
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  um But again, using the Z word, back in the day it was just known as a zoo, but basically, tronga has changed over the years and it's now a not-for-profit conservation entity.
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  Is that an accurate description of what tronga is these days?
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  Yeah, that's definitely an accurate description.
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  Don, we have evolved quite significantly and probably when you visit it as a child, as you say, we probably were more the living museum style of, you know, come and see these
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  different animals and learn about them.
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  And then education became a bigger part of what we did.
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  um like some zoos globally, we started to learn more about how animals existed in the wild and tried to replicate those environments.
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  you know, sometime in the seventies and eighties and then realized, well, actually we've got a role to play here because a lot of these species are threatened in the wild.
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  We can recreate those environments.
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  We can create an arc for animals um and to repopulate those sort of wild populations that are in decline.
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  And that was really the launch point is probably the eighties and early nineties.
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  for um our evolution towards being a conservation society.
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  And that's really our raison d'etre is, uh and our vision is securing a shared future for wildlife and people.
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  And we do that in many different ways.
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  uh And we measure the success of that by the persistence of populations in the wild.
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  So the entity taronga conservation ah is what it's, I guess, more.
• 8:33
  Well, that's what it is, not what it more is, that's what it is now.
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  It's a not for profit.
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  So obviously people who visit their entry fees go back in to the programs that we will discuss a bit more in a minute.
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  And again, we'll expand on some of these points in a minute.
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  You can stay overnight now, which was never an option when I was growing up.
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  You can donate, of course, and you can become a zoo parent, which I would mean, I guess, is like a a sponsorship.
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  Is that right?
• 9:00
  Yeah, that's right.
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  that's, and it's often supporting one of our key programs as well.
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  So again, we are going to jump around here a bit.
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  as a conservation society for wildlife, we've mentioned, I've mentioned, you've mentioned programs.
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  Can you give us an example of some of the programs that you have there that people will either see when they visit or that you're just doing behind the scenes?
• 9:24
  Yeah, one of the key ones is the work of our wildlife hospital.
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  So they're involved in the rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife.
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  A really good example is the devastating bushfires that we had in 2019 and 2020.
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  Our wildlife teams played such an important role in supporting wildlife through those bushfires.
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  Our team went out into the fire grounds and treated more than 150 koalas.
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  And we had a
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  A lot of animals that came back to our zoo that we treated during that period rehabilitate and then with a view to release them back into the wild when the environment's right to do
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  so and when they're fully recovered.
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  But that's not just during crisis events.
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  We see about 1,500 animals that come through our wildlife hospital each year.
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  You asked before about things that people will come and see and off display.
• 10:14
  Well, that's a little of both because at the moment that's tucked away off display.
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  But we are working to build a new world class teaching wildlife hospital.
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  by not this Christmas, but the Christmas after, people can come and see that work in action.
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  They can see our team rescuing marine turtles, removing plastic from the turtles and rehabilitating them.
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  So we're really excited about that opportunity.
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  The other thing is our breed for release program.
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  So this is where we breed critically endangered species, typically native species in Australia, but we have been involved in other things like the Taki or the Mongolian horse,
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  Shavolsky's horse.
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  And we'll identify species that are in need of supplementation through a zoo-based breeding program or a breeding program that we can run in one of our sanctuaries.
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  And we will identify species like
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  The corroboree frog, is um pretty much extinct in the wild, the region honey eater, they used to cover the skies around New South Wales and Victoria.
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  There's only about 350 left.
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  We're talking about something that's rarer than a giant panda.
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  And our team breed those species and release them back to the wild.
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  So from this site, we've bred around 55,000 animals that have been released back to the wild.
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  And we can point to seven species that we would say would be extinct, but for those breeding programs.
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  So those recovery programs we're very proud of and that's been our bread and butter for many years.
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  But we're taking steps into new frontiers now of rewilding, which is looking at not just releasing the individual species, but restoring a whole ecosystem and that ecosystem
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  function.
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  So we've established a sanctuary, which is an engine room for breeding species in the Western arid systems of New South Wales.
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  We're talking about species like the greater bilby that's been extinct for more than 110 years.
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  And because of the introduction of cats and foxes, we're breeding them and releasing them back into national parks out there, along with the seven other species that are a focus of
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  that program.
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  And that's restoring an entire ecosystem function.
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  So you look at something like a bilby.
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  It's what we call an ecosystem engineer and it'll dig dirt so that the rain can penetrate the soil in the right way for the plant life to grow back.
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  So we're restoring those desert systems to what they would have looked like pre-European settlement so that we can start to see those areas of Australia thrive again.
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  And then the last one I'll mention is our restoration programs, which are another really exciting one.
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  We've come to the realization that
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  For Taronga as a conservation society, working with wildlife is not just enough because we need habitat for those species to thrive in.
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  So we've identified parts of the Boxcum Woodland ecosystem.
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  This is a critically endangered ecological community that in total is probably home to about 187 threatened plant and animal species.
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  And we're restoring that ecosystem, identifying land that's probably been cleared for agriculture.
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  and returning those important plant species.
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  And then we'll see the native species come, the native animal species come back and we'll also look at reintroductions and things like that.
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  that's a really exciting program as well.
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  And then lastly, we see 1.8 million visitors through our doors each year.
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  So we actually have not just an opportunity, but a real obligation to inspire behavior change as well.
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  So what is it?
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  what are the choices that you can do in your life that make a significant difference for wildlife?
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  they're probably, that's not the totality of it.
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  There's education programs and things, but that in a nutshell is really what we're all about and where we're headed in the future.
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  That is one big nutshell, let me tell you.
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  I've got a handful of questions off that bit of information you gave us, so in no particular order.
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  So back to the wildlife that you're helping through your hospital.
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  You mentioned crisis, obviously the wildfires, and that made news around the world, the porkwild is in such danger through the fires.
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  So again, this is more curiosity questions for myself.
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  um
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  If someone's driving around Sydney now, a lot of people out there may not know that there's a lot of endemic wildlife around the suburbs of Sydney.
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  There are koalas, kangaroos not so much, but they are around birdlife particularly.
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  uh Where my stepdad lives up on Whale Beach, which is in your area in the Northern Beaches where we have Nick and Monica.
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  He has um cockatoos, galahs, magpies, kookaburras flying in every morning, the whole thing.
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  Birdlife, particularly lizards, snakes.
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  and some of more exotic wombats, koalas, are in the suburbs.
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  So if I'm driving down the street and I see an injured animal on the street, is this something that I could bring to you for your hospital to look after and you would then
• 15:09
  release back into the wild?
• 15:11
  Absolutely, yeah.
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  The Taronga Wildlife Hospital here takes wildlife from many people who come across them in Sydney and also plays a service for the wildlife carers like wires and others that do it
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  on a volunteer basis.
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  So yeah, you can definitely do that.
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  And that's how a lot of our wildlife come through.
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  might be someone spotting a turtle stranded on a beach or a little penguin or a cockatoo or whatever it might be.
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  Yeah.
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  Okay, now you've mentioned some of the reintroduction programs you're doing and you mentioned the horse species and some other larger animals.
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  For those who don't know Toronto where it is now, it's a big area.
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  Actually on that note, what's your acreage or hectareage or whatever it is where you are now?
• 15:54
  In total here in Sydney, 28 hectares, we've got sanctuary-based breeding in ah an area called Dubbo which is 300 hectares and then we've recently, sorry that's 300 hectares
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  where visitors can see but there's another thousand or so where we're running breeding programs and things like that behind the scenes and then the new property that we've
• 16:19
  purchased for restoration is about three and a half thousand hectares.
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  Right, that's my question.
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  You mentioned Dubbo is an area in rural New South Wales.
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  um And again, that's why I was wondering, because people, if they do visit Tronga or know it, they might think, well, where are you putting all your horses and your larger animals?
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  But that's obviously in the country of New South Wales, where they have room to roam.
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  You mentioned 1.8 million are coming through your doors annually, which is amazing.
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  m Is that mainly domestic?
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  uh
• 16:50
  Is that Aussies coming through your door or is it more predominantly foreigners, globetrotters?
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  Yeah, it's a bit of a mix.
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  More than I might let you handle, let's say.
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  It is a little bit of a mix.
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  think at the moment we're at about 35 % of our visitation is coming from our international markets.
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  So that includes the North American market, which is actually one of our biggest visitor markets that comes to Taronga and really is
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  one of those markets that's very, very engaged with everything that Nick was just talking about in regards to our conservation programs, but also very engaged by watching our
• 17:23
  documentary as well, which does show that behind the scenes that Nick mentioned about the hospital as well.
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  um so, yes, we've still got a little way to go to be where we were.
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  um
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  pre-COVID, where about 50 % of the visitation came through the tourism team and came from international markets.
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  But I suppose post-COVID, there's actually people are traveling very differently.
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  They're after very different things.
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  And I think some of those programs that we run and the behavior change that Nick was talking about as well is very much at the forefront of everything that we do when we do
• 17:54
  have those international visitors coming through as well.
• 17:57
  Yeah, for sure.
• 17:58
  think everything that Nick sort of outlined, and again, that's sort of in a nutshell, there's much more detail to it all.
• 18:04
  Yeah, that's definitely, I think, reflective around the world.
• 18:07
  When people are getting involved with wildlife encounters, they're looking for the guidelines of parameters that the tronga now definitely embraces.
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  uh again, some questions off the back of Nick's outline there.
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  um
• 18:24
  So all you mentioned is amazing.
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  that's stunning what you're doing.
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  It's like kudos to you.
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  It's the right thing to do.
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  But for me as a school kid going there, and I know for a fact that to the extent you just described, Nick wouldn't have been happening back then, but back in the day, was Teronga
• 18:40
  just a living museum or has it historically been involved in protection and conservation?
• 18:47
  Yeah, it's historically been involved in the protection of conservation, I think probably from the 80s as well, where it really probably started to pick up a bit and then into the
• 18:57
  90s.
• 18:58
  But certainly not to the extent of what we're working on now, Donna, I our investment in conservation, even in the last decade, has grown from probably about four or five million
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  a year to about
• 19:11
  16 or 17 million dollars invested directly into conservation efforts in the wild.
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  That's not including all the stuff that we might do on site as well.
• 19:20
  um So it has grown significantly both in the type of conservation, the sophistication of our conservation.
• 19:27
  We've got the largest um science team for an organization like this in the southern hemisphere.
• 19:34
  We've got um
• 19:35
  around about 28 scientists that are either full-time or part-time or in PhD roles.
• 19:41
  uh And we've launched a university partnership with the University of Sydney, which is around Bachelor of Advanced Science in brackets, Taronga Conservation.
• 19:52
  And this is to marry those really good theoretical skill sets that come out of the conservation and science programs in universities with real world examples and on the
• 20:00
  ground experience.
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  So the sophistication,
• 20:04
  the focus, the dedication to conservation has grown and will only continue to grow in the future.
• 20:12
  Yeah, and that's what I sort of fishing for because I wasn't inferring that back in the day it was ignored.
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  It's just as times have changed for everyone, more and more people realize the importance of it.
• 20:22
  And you guys obviously have jumped in the deep end and it's just amazing the programs that you're running.
• 20:29
  Going back to the question of, you know, it's a not for profit.
• 20:33
  therefore, you know, money that is spent at the at the at Toronto.
• 20:37
  So almost said it at Toronto.
• 20:40
  goes into helping with all this stuff.
• 20:42
  Do you get funding from the government for this?
• 20:44
  Yeah, yeah, we do.
• 20:47
  We actually sit within a government fold as a uh technically a non-funded government agency, but we do get some support.
• 20:55
  It makes up about 10 % of our overall operating budget, which is to uh maintain these assets because they are assets that belong to the people of New South Wales in the state
• 21:06
  that we live in and on occasion for our capital programs as well.
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  But the
• 21:13
  lion's share of the work that we do out in the field in our conservation programs uh and across this beautiful site here comes from either our gate takings, the visitation, the
• 21:25
  overnight stays or philanthropy.
• 21:28
  Well, so again, I'm sort of fishing for a nice little angle here to tell everyone out there that if you visit Taronga as part of any Sydney experience, you are supporting all
• 21:39
  the programs that Nish has mentioned and also all the animals that are there just doing their thing day by day in a very happy environment.
• 21:47
  So it's a very positive thing to do when you're in Sydney to get across and visit Taronga.
• 21:52
  So let's get into some of those things and we get Monique a bit more involved in the conversation I hope for this.
• 21:56
  uh
• 21:58
  Of that 1.8 million, you mentioned that you've got a 30 odd percent, at least now, is your foreign visitors, a lot from North America.
• 22:07
  ah I'm sure you know this through um surveys and whatnot, but what is the attraction for a North American to visit Taronga?
• 22:18
  Is it to see the endemic Australian wildlife?
• 22:20
  Is it to see the international wildlife that you may have there?
• 22:24
  Is it now in this day, because it wasn't when I was there,
• 22:27
  to actually stay with you overnight or for extended period of time, what is the attraction for someone to visit Tronga?
• 22:34
  think it's a little mix of all of those things.
• 22:35
  think firstly, location.
• 22:37
  um We're only 12 minutes by ferry from the city.
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  So we're a great visitation.
• 22:43
  We're great to come and visit um and then include in your daytime programs.
• 22:48
  think people, internationals definitely come to visit our Neurodia precinct, which is our Australian animal precinct, a lot of the products that we sell.
• 22:56
  by go away are all based around our Australian animals.
• 22:59
  We find that most internationals will come and spend about two and two to three hours m on site with us.
• 23:05
  So that might be a tool.
• 23:07
  They might come and see one of our presentations and then they may go and explore some other parts of Taronga.
• 23:14
  um For example, you can't go past that iconic photo of the giraffes with the city in the background.
• 23:19
  they definitely have the penthouse location here at Taronga.
• 23:22
  again, it gives guests that opportunity to take that iconic Sydney skyline, which you really can only get when you come and visit Taronga.
• 23:30
  it's one of those things that, um yeah, they can come and see that um and then engage with the tools and other products that we have.
• 23:38
  But since we launched the Wildlife Retreat in 2019,
• 23:41
  Definitely our main focus has been the North American market and we're starting to see around 20 to 25 percent of visitors that are coming through the wildlife retreat at the
• 23:49
  moment are from international markets and the majority of that is coming from the North American market.
• 23:54
  And again, it's immersing yourself in Australian animals and being able to wake up and see koalas from your bedroom window or kangaroos, but see the city in the back.
• 24:04
  and be only 12 minutes away is such a unique experience for guests to have, especially if they're not getting outside of the city, then yeah, it's just a once in a lifetime
• 24:14
  opportunity for them.
• 24:15
  Yeah, and we will expand on the wildlife retreat in minute.
• 24:19
  So you mentioned two to three hours visitation time.
• 24:21
  Is that for the Australian animals or is that for the...
• 24:25
  for the Australian
• 24:26
  It's actually a large precinct and I think as Nick mentioned before, we're 28 hectares.
• 24:31
  So there's lots of wide open footpaths, lots of greenery.
• 24:34
  think what you'll notice about Taronga is it's very open enclosures as well.
• 24:38
  And one of the highlights of our Australian precinct is kangaroo country where guests can actually walk on the footpath and the animals are free roaming around them.
• 24:47
  So there's some really good opportunity to see some amazing behaviors and get up close to some of those animals such as the emus, the wallabies and the kangaroos.
• 24:56
  I've actually I've got a couple of questions off the back of that.
• 25:00
  I had one written down here over the years.
• 25:02
  Now, I know, I think I know the answer to this because where you are now, as Nick mentioned earlier on, is probably some of the most pristine sought after real estate, if
• 25:11
  not in Australia, definitely in Sydney.
• 25:13
  So from the time that Tronga moved from Moor Park to where it is now on the on the for sure of Mossman in 1916, has it grown in size?
• 25:25
  Has this footprint grown?
• 25:27
  Yeah, good question.
• 25:28
  uh The land that was um always uh identified at that time has remained roughly the same.
• 25:38
  I think a few boundaries have been redrawn here and there, but it hasn't particularly grown.
• 25:44
  The way that we've used that space has changed.
• 25:46
  And actually,
• 25:48
  The tree canopy on this site is one thing that's grown.
• 25:51
  I looked at old photos the other day from the 1920s, 1940s, 60s through to now.
• 25:56
  We're currently sitting at about 67 % tree canopy.
• 26:00
  So our approach to the use of this landscape has changed significantly in that we genuinely look at this space, not just as enclosures where people can come and see the
• 26:11
  species that we have in our breeding programs and to take.
• 26:15
  inspiration from that but we genuinely look at this site as habitat and have grown the habitat over time, have replaced weeds with native species under a landscape management
• 26:24
  plan.
• 26:25
  whilst the site itself hasn't grown here in Sydney, of course we've grown out in western New South Wales and also in uh northern New South Wales, the site here hasn't grown but
• 26:37
  our approach to how we manage that site has changed quite significantly.
• 26:42
  Okay, so again using my past experiences there and you know times change and awareness broadens and all those type of things.
• 26:52
  Over the, things have changed for Taronga, have the enclosures changed as well, either in size or the way the animals are, I don't want to use the word kept but they are.
• 27:02
  So like I remember the elephant enclosure back in the day.
• 27:05
  ah I remember I think there was a big central area I think where monkeys, like big troops of monkeys would hang out and they weren't the most inducing to their natural
• 27:16
  surroundings.
• 27:16
  I would assume over the years that the enclosure attitudes have changed as well.
• 27:22
  Yeah, absolutely they have done.
• 27:24
  Yeah, the amount of space, the complexity of the environment, facilitating choice and agency for the animals, choose to sit in the sun, choose to sit in the shade, choose to
• 27:35
  climb, choose to secrete them, you know, to find areas where they're sort of comfortable.
• 27:42
  That's been a really important part of how we build it.
• 27:46
  The other big evolution in how we care for animals.
• 27:50
  over quite a number of decades has been an approach to consider the social needs of the animals as well.
• 27:56
  What's the group size look like?
• 27:57
  What's the capacity for them to get away from the group when they need to?
• 28:01
  How do you build in that complexity?
• 28:04
  um So it definitely has changed over time.
• 28:08
  And now we look at things more as a habitat.
• 28:12
  we plan, you know, when we look at all the different stakeholders when we build here, one of the very first ones that we're looking at is the animals.
• 28:19
  And that's how we've designed a lot of our facilities.
• 28:21
  So thoughtfully curated spaces that facilitate natural behavior, interest in life, and um enjoyment out of that environment is how we build things now.
• 28:33
  One of the highlights I remember going to Tronga as a kid was you'd see the Australian endemic wildlife, which you get used to because often school kids will do.
• 28:43
  Even Meg would have done down in Melbourne, she would have probably gone off to a farm somewhere to watch the sheep get shorn and you might have seen kangaroos in the wild, that
• 28:50
  type of thing.
• 28:51
  But one thing that I have yet to ever see in the wild and they're very difficult to see is a platypus.
• 28:57
  And I'm going to use the term was a platypus display.
• 29:02
  um Do you still have the platypus display or a version of now?
• 29:06
  We do.
• 29:07
  We've got a few platypus displays.
• 29:09
  One of the best ones is in the Australian country in that Nuriduja precinct that Mon was talking about before.
• 29:16
  um We've got a nocturnal area called Nuringnura and there are lot of Australia's fascinating nocturnal creatures uh or somewhere in between.
• 29:26
  So we have platypuses which in a lot of their range are actually crepuscular.
• 29:31
  So they like to come out at dawn and dusk.
• 29:33
  So they're sort of towards the end of that facility.
• 29:37
  We've created that in a way that it replicates the natural um lunar cycle so that the light that's in there is what would be seen by a full moon at times.
• 29:47
  It's actually quite dark in parts um but perfectly lit for the platypus.
• 29:52
  It's a wonderful place to see it.
• 29:54
  But I should say in terms of investment in conservation, platypus is...
• 29:59
  logo, that's our symbol and we have made a significant investment in platypus conservation recently with the establishment of a platypus rescue centre.
• 30:09
  This is out in western New South Wales and people can see it as well.
• 30:14
  It's a facility that can take up to hundred platypus.
• 30:18
  That was one of the things that we learnt in the middle of bushfires and droughts and there was koala hospitals dotted across the coast of New South Wales.
• 30:26
  but there was no one that could take in platypus on mass.
• 30:28
  So we said, we've got to fix this.
• 30:31
  And we've built that facility now so that we can take in platypus in really big numbers, in numbers big enough to repopulate those river systems should we need to.
• 30:42
  And also with it, we've built here and also in Dubbo research and breeding centers so that we...
• 30:50
  can learn actually how to breed platypus and bill those numbers up in the wild there.
• 30:54
  We have bred them here at Taronga before, but they're a species that's notoriously cryptic and difficult to breed.
• 31:00
  So we need to learn as much as we can about them.
• 31:03
  Okay.
• 31:04
  you one on Mon's t-shirt there as well.
• 31:06
  Yeah, exactly.
• 31:07
  Yeah, I hear something in the background.
• 31:10
  Are you feeding some animals at the moment?
• 31:12
  think there is something going on over there.
• 31:16
  We are surrounded by wildlife and nature.
• 31:19
  I'd say it could even be a free-ranging brush turkey making all that noise.
• 31:23
  There you go.
• 31:25
  Just back to the platypus.
• 31:27
  Are they an endangered or under threat species in Australia?
• 31:31
  Yeah, they definitely are.
• 31:34
  They've been impacted.
• 31:35
  in fact, probably their level of um endangerment has been underestimated.
• 31:41
  We've done some um research with collaborators at the University of New South Wales that's been looking at platypus numbers across Australia broadly.
• 31:51
  they've recently had...
• 31:54
  changes to their listings in a number of states to recognize just how threatened they are.
• 31:59
  they're one of these species, and we look at it like koala.
• 32:02
  um Now everyone recognizes that koala are potentially on the brink of extinction.
• 32:08
  And by 2050, unless we turn things around, they could become extinct.
• 32:12
  That's a fact.
• 32:13
  And platypus are probably the next one on that trajectory because they're one of those species that live in an environment
• 32:23
  They live right throughout from the very most northern parts of Australia in Queensland right down to Tasmania.
• 32:30
  But all of those uh precious freshwater ecosystems are under threat.
• 32:36
  they could be the next one if we don't turn things around quickly.
• 32:43
  Yeah, there's a number of different factors.
• 32:45
  It's our water usage in Australia.
• 32:48
  It's um the changing of water courses.
• 32:51
  It's ah how we fish those systems and some of the different traps that have been used to catch freshwater crayfish that have caused entanglement and pollution in the water system.
• 33:02
  So yeah, quite a number of different threats.
• 33:04
  It's also uh introduced species, foxes, cats, dogs, things like that.
• 33:10
  Right, okay.
• 33:11
  Well, that's not good news, but the news you're doing in trying to protect them is fantastic news.
• 33:17
  Monica, in regards to the animals that can be seen, we've discussed the endemic Australian wildlife platypus, obviously.
• 33:23
  I assume you'd have some wombats, echidnas, the classics, emus.
• 33:27
  Do have a cassowary there?
• 33:28
  cassowary?
• 33:30
  Okay, A?
• 33:31
  Just one?
• 33:31
  We definitely do.
• 33:33
  Okay.
• 33:34
  They're really cool.
• 33:35
  Pass away?
• 33:35
  Yeah.
• 33:36
  Yeah, we've had pairs in the past, um they've paired for breeding, but sometimes they like to have a less gregarious period of time as well.
• 33:46
  So they do like to spend time on their own.
• 33:49
  uh And then there's a cooperative breeding program across a number of sanctuaries and wildlife parks.
• 33:55
  So from time to time, we'll have a pair here.
• 33:59
  it is a highlight.
• 34:00
  It is one that we get a lot of questions about when visitors are coming as to whether or not we do have a cassowary.
• 34:06
  It seems to be on everyone's bucket list as well.
• 34:09
  yeah, they can definitely take that off when they come to visit Taronga.
• 34:12
  They're cool birds, very cool birds.
• 34:14
  that's the Australian site.
• 34:17
  Again, there are many more Indigenous wildlife that you can see at Taronga.
• 34:21
  But on the sort of what an Australian would view probably as exotic like lions, tigers, what's again, just an overview of what other sort of wildlife are on view at Taronga.
• 34:34
  So we have um an Asian trail so you can go down and see our Asian trail um come October, November.
• 34:41
  We'll be having um Hari, a one-horned rhino will be joining us um from Dubbo and some water buffalo as well.
• 34:49
  um So that will be one of the big highlights of that new Asian animal section.
• 34:54
  You can see fishing cats as well, the Pygmy Hippo.
• 34:58
  um And then obviously we have the tigers, the African animals as well.
• 35:02
  So the tigers, the lions, the giraffes, the zebras, the phoenix fox, the meerkats.
• 35:08
  So there's a lot that people can come and say.
• 35:10
  We've got chimpanzees as well.
• 35:13
  And then we have obviously our presentations, so free flight birds and seal for the wild presentations.
• 35:19
  as well and I suppose then the guests who want to learn more about those animals there's obviously the range of keeper talks that happen throughout the day so they can actually
• 35:27
  plan their time around Taronga based on the animals that they do want to learn a little bit more about and interact in those keeper talks too.
• 35:36
  Okay, no, that's excellent.
• 35:38
  Okay, so let's get into some more about what Tronga on a like on a day visit or more to the point an overnight visit can entail for someone.
• 35:45
  So the big thing for me particularly, and it sounds like it's somewhat big or newish to Tronga itself, is the fact that you can now stay at Tronga.
• 35:54
  And if I'm correct, there are two options there is I've missed my notes here.
• 36:03
  Or where you're now, which is a glamping
• 36:06
  Vibe and what was the other one?
• 36:09
  It's the wildlife retreat at Taronga.
• 36:12
  So can you expand on both of those and what they offer you for you?
• 36:15
  Sure.
• 36:16
  So Roar and Snore is more safari style camping.
• 36:20
  So, and it owns the night of Taronga.
• 36:22
  So it's what we call the adventurous overnight experience.
• 36:26
  It's a hosted program.
• 36:28
  You arrive at five o'clock in the evening at our main entrance where you're met by our host.
• 36:33
  They then take your bags away and they miraculously appear down in your safari tents when you come back at night.
• 36:39
  And you're walking through Taronga at night and along the way you're going to meet some of those animals that you may not have seen.
• 36:47
  And while it focuses a lot on exotic animals, some of those reptiles that you're going to meet are actually Australian reptiles.
• 36:53
  And then it includes your dinner, all of your alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
• 36:58
  And then later at night at around eight o'clock you'll end up coming back to the campsite.
• 37:02
  after dinner where then you'll have your dessert.
• 37:05
  And then the programs change slightly.
• 37:07
  You then get the choice to either relax, have a wine and stay at the campsite, see the amazing view that we have behind us, or you can go with our hosts and enjoy a nighttime
• 37:19
  walk through Taronga.
• 37:21
  And you do focus a lot on those African and Asian animals that I mentioned before.
• 37:25
  You're walking with the host, you've got red torch lights.
• 37:28
  And as I said, it owns the night.
• 37:30
  So it's the really exciting part of that program.
• 37:33
  You come back to campsite maybe at about 10 o'clock and then the next morning you're up.
• 37:37
  um There's coffee to wake you up and then you're up and out at about 6.30 and then you go and have these amazing behind the scenes experiences.
• 37:45
  So they vary depending on um time of year, what's available, what parts of the zoo um we can take you into.
• 37:54
  um Nine times out of 10, does include going and meeting our giraffes as well.
• 38:00
  And then you have breakfast and it actually ends when the lions are coming out at 9.30 when Taronga opens to the public.
• 38:08
  So the raw internal guests are the first guests to get down there to be able to see the lions coming out of their night dens as well.
• 38:15
  And then the program finishes, but it includes a day at Taronga.
• 38:18
  So we would always suggest that you do that day at Taronga after you've stayed.
• 38:22
  You've then seen everything for the first time and then can go back.
• 38:25
  and the things you haven't seen on your own SNOR program like the Australian animals, you can then go and tick off.
• 38:32
  I will say, Rorinton was an amazing experience to come and have.
• 38:35
  have amazing campsite down here.
• 38:38
  It is shared bathrooms and that seems to be a stumbling block for some North American markets.
• 38:44
  But um it is one of those things that if you wanted to come and have that adventure of seeing Taronga at night when no one else is in the site, it is one of those once in a
• 38:55
  lifetime type of experiences.
• 38:57
  Then on the other side of.
• 38:59
  Okay.
• 39:00
  I want ask a few questions about that one.
• 39:02
  So when you mentioned dinner, is that in a restaurant or is that in an outside?
• 39:06
  We do have a restaurant, it's called Saltwater Bistro.
• 39:09
  It's actually an Australian type barbecue.
• 39:12
  So there is like buffet salads and side dishes.
• 39:16
  um and then the guests can go up and as the team are barbecuing they can get their hot meats and sausages, et cetera, off the barbecue.
• 39:25
  There is a kids menu as well, so pasta and things like that that the kids can have as well as then the sausages.
• 39:32
  And as I mentioned, it also includes your alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages as well.
• 39:37
  The same restaurant is where you will also go for breakfast the next day.
• 39:42
  Okay and when you mention the campsite is it literally like well I know it's within Tronger itself but is it an open fire type vibe?
• 39:51
  So there is a fire pit and actually Roar and Snor is one of those sites, unlike the wildlife retreat, that if you're a day guest to Taronga, you don't actually see where it
• 40:02
  is.
• 40:02
  It really is behind the scenes.
• 40:04
  It's behind the gate.
• 40:05
  You don't get to see it.
• 40:07
  There are 17 tents and it's a maximum of 44 people.
• 40:11
  So, you know, it's never going to get over 44.
• 40:13
  We do have adult only nights as well.
• 40:16
  So if you are a couple and you don't want to, you
• 40:18
  don't want to have kids around when you're coming to visit.
• 40:20
  can come on one of our adult only nights.
• 40:22
  It's families, it's for children above five only.
• 40:26
  And the main reason for that is the lateness that you're coming back to campsite as well.
• 40:30
  We just don't have the team, the staff to be able to bring people backwards and forwards all the time from the campsite.
• 40:36
  And we do have themed nights, things like wine safaris as well, where you get to enjoy some wine as you're also, you know, exploring Taronga at night.
• 40:47
  Right, and just to be clear, at night time all the animals are still in their enclosures and not let out to wander around.
• 40:52
  uh
• 40:54
  Correct.
• 40:54
  So they always have access to their night dens even throughout the day.
• 40:59
  But yes, they'll definitely still all be in their enclosures.
• 41:02
  it's
• 41:02
  It's but not that adventurous.
• 41:06
  There might be some law and insurance issues I think otherwise.
• 41:09
  And you happily store people's baggage for them when they spend the day there, That's correct.
• 41:14
  So after you've stayed, um when the guests are heading out to explore in the morning, um the staff will collect their luggage and that will be stored at the main entrance for the
• 41:25
  guests to pick up as they're departing once they've enjoyed their day.
• 41:31
  The program finishes at 9.30.
• 41:33
  So after 9.30, they want to spend time in Taronga, they can, but no other activities booked before 9.30 because they wouldn't be able to get there.
• 41:42
  Right.
• 41:42
  OK, so I got question for Meg.
• 41:44
  So Meg, when we add this to a trip or a day or we add it on as a day tour, what are the options to get to and from?
• 41:50
  Is it like a ferry in drive like road transfer out uh reverse both ferries, both road transfers, basically what people want to choose?
• 41:59
  Essentially all of the above.
• 42:01
  So we have private transfers loaded in our system.
• 42:04
  So from airports or hotels straight out to Taronga.
• 42:07
  So you can do that in either direction in both direction.
• 42:10
  One of our really popular products that's in a lot of our packages is a hop on, it's a combination of a hop on hop off Sydney Harbor cruise, valid to 48 hours, and it includes
• 42:19
  entry to Taronga as well.
• 42:20
  So that would be in a huge percentage of all of our Sydney.
• 42:24
  itineraries.
• 42:25
  I couldn't put an exact figure on it but I'd have to say at 85, 90 it goes in pretty much everything.
• 42:30
  So yeah you can do one in either direction any way you want our destination specialist can put that all together.
• 42:36
  Okay, and Monica just came back to the description of the the raw and snore.
• 42:41
  When you say the behind the scenes experiences, they can only be had with the raw and snore package.
• 42:48
  And I'm going to guess with the wild wildlife retreat.
• 42:50
  So you can't do the you can't just do the behind the scenes on its own as be as part of a an accommodation stay.
• 42:58
  So those behind the scenes areas generally are accessible if you're doing one of our overnight programs, so Roar and Snore Wildlife Retreat, or if you go on one of our tours
• 43:09
  that we run as well, then you have the opportunity to go behind the scenes.
• 43:13
  But yeah, they're not for um general public guests coming just to have the day at Taronga.
• 43:19
  um They won't have access to behind the scenes areas.
• 43:23
  Okay then, so how does the wildlife retreat experience differ from the wrong snorkel?
• 43:30
  So the wildlife retreat is more the relax and luxury.
• 43:34
  Also, it focuses more on the Australian animals.
• 43:37
  um It does have its own entrance and it operates more like a hotel.
• 43:41
  So it is a hotel style.
• 43:43
  of room that you're coming into as well.
• 43:45
  Check-ins at two, checkouts at 10, can stay multiple nights.
• 43:49
  Whereas for Roar and Snorri is that one night program where you come, we wow you with everything and then you can enjoy your day at Taronga with the wildlife retreat.
• 43:59
  You can stay multiple nights.
• 44:01
  Wildlife retreat, we do have packages that include breakfast and a three course limited choice dinner as well.
• 44:09
  but you also get an included tour.
• 44:11
  the Wildlife Retreat is actually five accommodation buildings surrounding an animal sanctuary.
• 44:16
  And in that animal sanctuary, we have lots of Australian marsupials.
• 44:21
  Now there are some that people know really well, the wallabies and the echidnas, but then some that they may not know that much about like the bettongs, the potaroos, the paddy
• 44:28
  melons.
• 44:29
  So you're actually going to get up close to some of those Australian animals that you may not even knew existed before.
• 44:35
  but when you leave, they'll probably become one of your favorites as well.
• 44:39
  again, with that tour, you're walking with one of our guides, the guests are sticking to the footpath and the animals are free roaming.
• 44:46
  Now, because the animals are living there and they have access to their night dens whenever they would like to, you'll see them during the day coming out, you'll hear them
• 44:54
  rustling around at night.
• 44:56
  And I suppose that's what's exciting.
• 44:58
  Those koalas that are in the enclosures as well outside those bedroom windows and same with the kangaroos,
• 45:05
  going to hear them at night, you're going to hear them rustling around.
• 45:08
  It's a really unique experience to be having.
• 45:10
  The Wildlife Retreat has 62 rooms, so 58 of them are standard rooms, and then we have four suites as well.
• 45:17
  So depending on the size of the group that are coming to stay, we do guarantee interconnecting rooms.
• 45:23
  So for families of four or more, we can do interconnecting rooms.
• 45:28
  Maximum number of people in a room is three.
• 45:31
  Okay, so Meg, I guess you could combine the wildlife retreat and the roar and snore as like a package.
• 45:38
  You could do like a two or three night stay in the hotel wildlife retreat and then do your roar and snore and then move on from there.
• 45:44
  Yeah, if somebody wanted to do that, you could absolutely pop that together.
• 45:48
  it's funny you're talking about hearing the noises.
• 45:50
  I know from when I was young, koalas can make quite the racket.
• 45:54
  They can, definitely.
• 45:56
  surprises a lot of people.
• 45:57
  They're not the quiet little, not always the quiet little things that you may expect them to be.
• 46:02
  I mean, I think it's nice at the wildlife retreat because as I said, they're living there.
• 46:06
  So when the keepers are coming in in the morning and giving them new leaves for the koalas, that's when you're going to see them really active as well.
• 46:13
  Climbing up and down the trees, eating those leaves, finding their comfortable spot for the day.
• 46:18
  So again, another unique experience that if you weren't wandering through the zoo early in the morning, you would probably never have.
• 46:26
  sorry, done.
• 46:28
  You have drop bays there?
• 46:30
  Hahaha!
• 46:31
  uh
• 46:32
  For those who have no idea, obviously Monica and Nick don't want to talk about it as does Meg.
• 46:36
  I'll throw up what a drop bearer is.
• 46:37
  It's this little tease that was invented by someone, particularly to North American clients about koalas.
• 46:44
  They don't exist.
• 46:45
  But I'll show you what that means in a minute on the screen here.
• 46:48
  James Cook, one of the early explorers who first came to Australia, he actually coined the term.
• 46:54
  So he was there with Joseph Banks.
• 46:56
  And what they found was that these things kept dropping out of the trees and attacking them.
• 47:01
  and they thought they looked like little bears so they were just like we'll call it a drop bear and so the names stuck but technically it's actually just a subspecies
• 47:13
  Yeah.
• 47:13
  Yeah, uh like a wilder version.
• 47:19
  So if you look at, I won't come too close, but I'm just going to point.
• 47:24
  So the difference between this and a normal koala, firstly you're going to see the size.
• 47:27
  Then if you see, see he's got those black hairs that are almost like bristles, they actually come out a lot further from the fur.
• 47:34
  So they're really, really coarse.
• 47:36
  Keep your hands down nice and low.
• 47:38
  All right, just gonna flat hand.
• 47:42
  F***ing yours now.
• 47:45
  Okay, and steady with the bear.
• 47:52
  Keep him calm.
• 47:53
  Everybody looks very worried about this.
• 47:56
  I'm trying not to be worried because I've been told that he can sense if I'm worried.
• 48:01
  We've been told that this is quite a dangerous bear that's been known to attack people.
• 48:06
  It's called a drop bear because they drop out of the tree to attack people.
• 48:11
  Just being handed it and
• 48:13
  had to put on all of this protection gear because of what it might do to me.
• 48:18
  oh
• 48:18
  Sorry Megan, you about to say something?
• 48:20
  going say, for North American travellers, it's funny, a couple of years ago I was in Australia, I had a friend with me who'd never been before and we were essentially looking,
• 48:30
  well we were somewhere that had koalas, but as we were walking in, a little wallaby just hopped in front of us and I just didn't even pay too much attention being Australian,
• 48:39
  we've seen him a million times and honestly, he was like a kid on a sugar high on Christmas morning.
• 48:48
  He thought it was a kangaroo, but you know, but seeing that live in person in front of him, for me that, you know, I deal with travel, I'm very, very lucky, but you take some of
• 48:56
  these things for granted, but just seeing the excitement on his face, for me, that was a bit of an aha moment.
• 49:00
  I'm like, this is why people come.
• 49:03
  They see this wildlife and I'll never forget that.
• 49:05
  And that was, you know, that was years ago, but it really is.
• 49:08
  It's why people, it's why people come.
• 49:10
  We have some of the most unique wildlife, Meg.
• 49:13
  It's, you know, being an island and the species that have evolved here over the millennia.
• 49:20
  It is amazing and fascinating.
• 49:21
  And we take for granted so much of it, like the little wallaby you mentioned, but also the bird life.
• 49:26
  I when I bump into people visiting from overseas, they just blow on away.
• 49:31
  That's a kookaburra.
• 49:32
  That's a cockatoo.
• 49:34
  That's uh all of these really, what an exotic species to them.
• 49:38
  that are just everywhere in the sky around us.
• 49:42
  So yeah, it is special.
• 49:43
  It really is, and it really was a great reminder for me just how excited people get to see this.
• 49:51
  Yeah, well, again, as Nick says, like we could if you're an Aussie, you grew up with a lot of these animals, even if you're in the suburbs in Sydney or Melbourne, obviously in the
• 50:01
  country, it's a lot more in your face.
• 50:03
  But yeah, like they are still exotic, foreign, weird animals to anyone coming out visiting outside of outside of Australia.
• 50:13
  Just for the sake of time, let's get into a little bit of.
• 50:17
  technical stuff here.
• 50:18
  So we discussed the wildlife retreat and the ronstraun sort of extended stays within Taronga.
• 50:23
  But let's just say someone wants a visit for the day.
• 50:26
  how does it work?
• 50:27
  it like, I don't say it is a theme park, but like, can you buy multiple day passes?
• 50:32
  Is there a day pass?
• 50:33
  ah If you just go as an individual with a family, when you're in there, like all the information that gave us in the early parts of this podcast, the introduction of what
• 50:42
  Taronga does.
• 50:43
  Is that information at hand for someone if they really want to know the backstory to Taronga?
• 50:48
  If someone wants to visit on their own or with a family, can they hire a guide for a short period of time for a full day tour?
• 50:55
  What are some of the things that happen on a daily basis for someone visiting?
• 51:00
  So yes, you can come on a day.
• 51:02
  the Taronga is open from 9.30 till 5 in summer and till 4.30 in winter.
• 51:08
  um As Meg was saying, 365 days of the year.
• 51:14
  So even if you've got um guests who are looking to do something, Good Friday, Christmas Day, we're open and everything's operating as per normal.
• 51:21
  So it's a great opportunity to come across.
• 51:24
  um during those busier periods and maybe have a bit of a quieter day and explore the whole site.
• 51:31
  um You can come across by ferry.
• 51:34
  There is also a bus that goes across the Harbour Bridge.
• 51:37
  If you haven't driven across the Harbour Bridge or been over and wanting to come through and see the suburbs before you actually get to Taronga, that's the 100 bus that brings you
• 51:45
  across as well.
• 51:47
  Once guests do come across by ferry, there is a public bus that will bring them up to the main entrance.
• 51:53
  And from the main entrance, that's where everything departs.
• 51:56
  So if you are coming across as a day guest and you do want to have more of an exclusive tour experience, we do have our wild Australia experience, maximum six people can be
• 52:06
  booked privately as well.
• 52:08
  And that allows the guests to have two hours with one of our amazing keepers.
• 52:13
  And you do go behind the scenes.
• 52:15
  You have a koala encounter included.
• 52:18
  And, know, as Nick was saying before, our animal welfare policies are very strong here at Taronga.
• 52:23
  And so when we're talking about encounters, we're talking about being able to go into the enclosure with the keeper, but at no stage of the guests touching, holding or feeding the
• 52:32
  koalas at all.
• 52:33
  And you're learning a lot more about that conservation work that Nick mentioned before and the efforts that Taronga is putting into that.
• 52:39
  So, again, like you were saying, Don, the guests are going
• 52:43
  to get that subtle messaging about behaviour change, our conservation programmes, our tighter country, all in that tour experience that they're going to have.
• 52:52
  They get that as a day guest through the signage that we have as well.
• 52:56
  ah And we put a lot of effort into that signage to drive some of that behaviour change as well.
• 53:01
  But with the Wild Australia experience, you'll also go behind the scenes in Nearing Norwich
• 53:06
  Nick mentioned before is our nocturnal um animals are there is a kitchen back there that the guests will be able to see.
• 53:12
  And as as another type of encounter, they'll actually go into some of the enclosures and sit at the back.
• 53:18
  um For example, in the bilby enclosure, you'll sit on the rocks at the back.
• 53:23
  The keepers will put out some food and the bilbies will be coming around the guests' feet for some reason.
• 53:29
  They seem to love smelling your feet.
• 53:30
  So they'll come around and they'll have that experience.
• 53:33
  And again, it's a great opportunity to see them up close, but it's also that opportunity for our keeper to be talking more about the work Taronga is doing with the bilbies and
• 53:42
  what the guests can do as well to start helping some of that behaviour change too.
• 53:47
  So that's two hour experience.
• 53:49
  And from the North American market, that's our most popular.
• 53:53
  tour experience, one departure at 10.15 in the morning and one at one o'clock in the afternoon as well.
• 53:59
  And as we said, that runs 365 days of the year.
• 54:03
  We actually have that loaded in our system and easily inserted into any Sydney
• 54:10
  It's a good tie, even from Lauren Snore finishing at 9.30.
• 54:15
  Then if they want to go and see and immerse themselves with Australian animals, go back up to the main entrance, check in for their tour, maybe grab a coffee in between 10.15, go
• 54:24
  with the keeper on the wild Australia experience.
• 54:27
  On the other side with um the wildlife retreat at Taronga, again, we can do a uh tour experience.
• 54:34
  Maybe if they're arriving early in the morning on one of those earlier flights, they can leave their bags freshen up.
• 54:40
  maybe grab breakfast in the restaurant and then go on a tour, come back and their room will be ready for them.
• 54:46
  So there's lots of ways that we can tie in the Taronga experience with those overnight experiences to make it a seamless package for them as well.
• 54:55
  I guess adding that day to a tour, if somebody is moving into another hotel, you your check-in is not until later.
• 54:59
  So adding that extra couple of hours of activities does help them make the most of their day.
• 55:04
  They're not just moving to a next hotel waiting to check in.
• 55:08
  Good idea.
• 55:09
  those early flights coming in from North America that are landing at like six o'clock, six thirty in the morning, if you are coming across to stay with us for two nights, let's say
• 55:18
  at the wildlife retreat, you'll arrive maybe about eight o'clock, eight thirty.
• 55:23
  You can go up, have breakfast.
• 55:25
  freshen up in the bathroom facilities in the lounge area and then grab a key and go and explore Taronga.
• 55:31
  And then our team at the wildlife retreat will speak to housekeeping and try and expedite that room so that it's ready for the guests to be able to come back maybe 12 o'clock.
• 55:41
  And then the Nuggera Lounge does serve like a casual lunch from 12 as well.
• 55:46
  So again, it's a seamless experience that's kind of keeping the guests up, which is always the challenge when riding on those early flights.
• 55:54
  Yeah, check-ins are getting later and later, right?
• 55:57
  So lot of hotels are pushing it to 3 o'clock now, so that's a really great way to just take advantage of that first day.
• 56:04
  Yeah.
• 56:04
  And I mean, what a better way to welcome to Sydney than coming to Toronto and being able to see that iconic Sydney skyline from wherever you are as well.
• 56:12
  So you can kind of then pinch moment.
• 56:14
  I'm definitely in Sydney.
• 56:16
  I'm seeing everything.
• 56:17
  So it's a really great experience to be able to do.
• 56:20
  And it is that seamless arrival, which, know, you do really want when you just come off those um flights from North America as well.
• 56:27
  And I've got a little bit of a theory.
• 56:29
  It's like, you if you ask somebody in, you know, 10 years time, what hotel do they stay at in Sydney?
• 56:32
  They're probably not going to remember, but they're going to remember arriving at Taronga, doing everything you just said, spending the night, seeing the views.
• 56:39
  Those are things that people don't forget.
• 56:41
  Yeah, definitely.
• 56:42
  And I think as well, like Don was saying, we're a bit of a gateway to the North Shore and the Northern beaches.
• 56:47
  So if you are spending two nights with us, um you know, it's the opportunity to not go back into the city.
• 56:53
  It's the opportunity to explore Taronga and then see the other areas that we are in.
• 56:57
  We always say Balmoral is a fantastic place to go because it's the locals go.
• 57:01
  There's not a lot of tourists that go there.
• 57:03
  It's a bit off the track.
• 57:04
  um So people are always trying to get those local experiences.
• 57:08
  And I think that
• 57:08
  what we're offering when you're staying on this side of the city as well.
• 57:13
  Yeah, I've got to point that out too.
• 57:15
  That's a really, really good point because taking nothing away from beaches like Bondi or Manly, which are well famous, they are stunning.
• 57:24
  south of the harbor where I grew up, Kujee, etc.
• 57:27
  stunning beaches beyond Bondi.
• 57:29
  North where the guys are now, uh Balmoral, D.Y., Whale Beach, Palm Beach.
• 57:35
  This area of Sydney is not often explored in any real depth by the average North American tourist.
• 57:41
  So being based at Bossman.
• 57:43
  and it's very easy to get down to Balmoral and some of the other beaches down there as well.
• 57:47
  So that's another added advantage of location.
• 57:51
  um Question Monica, um I would assume that you've had in the past and therefore it answers my question, maybe weddings at Taronga, uh conventions or large groups.
• 58:03
  Can you cater for large groups?
• 58:04
  Can you cater for events at Taronga?
• 58:07
  Yeah, definitely.
• 58:07
  We can cater for large groups.
• 58:10
  um The loose capacity of Taronga is about 14,000.
• 58:13
  So we can definitely deal with large groups coming through and we do that on a daily basis with groups of like 5,000 or more.
• 58:22
  um We have great function spaces, including some amazing unique outdoor lawn spaces.
• 58:29
  So our concert lawn, for example, is where we do our Twilight at Taronga concerts.
• 58:34
  And that has an amazing view again, looking back across.
• 58:37
  into the city and can hold up to about 2,000 people.
• 58:40
  So you've got some nice small lawn spaces that can hold 100, maybe 50 people.
• 58:45
  If you wanted something a little bit more intimate, but if you were going for something large, then I'm hiring the concert lawn, having a food truck festival.
• 58:53
  And, you know, really activating that space is a unique way for people to again, see that skyline.
• 58:59
  And obviously we have function spaces as well.
• 59:02
  The newest one with that would be the Ghillie rooftop.
• 59:05
  It has 180 degree views looking back across into the city.
• 59:08
  And that has a capacity of about 80 when you'll sit down at about 100 cocktail style.
• 59:16
  But our largest indoor function space holds about 350 people.
• 59:21
  And what we are very good at doing is tying in a tour.
• 59:24
  So let's say you're having a nighttime function, we can do a sunset tour.
• 59:29
  So where they can arrive at our main entrance and we can do an hour and hour and a half of um walking through our Australian precinct and doing a bit of that introduction,
• 59:39
  understanding what Taronga is all about before then they're going into their function as well.
• 59:44
  It's a really nice tie and it's better than just arriving and going straight into the
• 59:49
  function center and then people are going well why we at Taronga we haven't engaged but that's a really great way for you to actually come in and engage with us and if they are
• 59:57
  really large groups and we can't do things like tools and and stuff like that there are other ways that we can activate and engage which we're working on at the moment.
• 1:00:05
  Yeah, and make it special for them.
• 1:00:07
  Okay then.
• 1:00:08
  So um is there any for um for Tronga itself, be it in Sydney or even out of Dubbo for that matter, any sort of upcoming new events or celebrations that you're celebrating and or any
• 1:00:23
  new enclosures or animal additions to?
• 1:00:26
  um
• 1:00:29
  Yeah, happy to launch it with a few and you can cover it gaps.
• 1:00:33
  Because we've got a lot of exciting stuff happening actually, probably a bit too soon for the audience this will go out to, but we're starting a Taronga After Dark series which
• 1:00:44
  we're really excited about because this place is just so magical when the sun sets and only our overnight visitors often get to see it.
• 1:00:52
  So we're looking at ways to open up certain spaces.
• 1:00:56
  for people to come in and see those beautiful views and the beautiful sunsets.
• 1:01:00
  And also we recognise that a lot of our animals are quite active um around dusk, so that's a really good opportunity um to give them more activity and enrichment and things like
• 1:01:13
  that as well.
• 1:01:14
  The other one that um Mon highlighted before is opening at Christmas.
• 1:01:18
  We'll have...
• 1:01:19
  uh
• 1:01:20
  a new Asian facility with the Greater One Horn Rhino and water buffalo.
• 1:01:25
  Greater One Horn Rhino, a great story.
• 1:01:27
  And we've done some work with the guys in Bardia National Park.
• 1:01:30
  We're one of the founding patrons of the International Rhinoceros Foundation.
• 1:01:34
  So they're a great story of a rhinoceros species that's actually on an upwards trajectory, unlike a lot of the others.
• 1:01:41
  So we want to celebrate that with that facility.
• 1:01:43
  And it's a great new addition to the site here.
• 1:01:47
  But then
• 1:01:48
  next Christmas, think the big one is the the wildlife hospital that we talked about for just that opportunity to see our vets working on that precious wildlife or doing, you
• 1:02:00
  know,
• 1:02:01
  dental work on one of our tamaritan tigers, which is part of the global breeding program or whatever it might be.
• 1:02:08
  We know that we've heard from our visitors and the majority of them say the one thing that they'd really love to see more of and would really help them understand the work of
• 1:02:17
  Taronga is being able to see our veterinary hospital.
• 1:02:20
  So we've listened to that and we're going to be bringing glimpses of it onto display so people can actually see that work.
• 1:02:26
  And we're really excited about that next Christmas.
• 1:02:29
  Yeah.
• 1:02:29
  What else, mom?
• 1:02:30
  And then we've had ARC, so our Amphibian Reptile Conservation Center, that opened last year.
• 1:02:37
  Yeah, that's a really good one actually when you talk about how can people understand some of our conservation work.
• 1:02:44
  Mon mentioned before, NeuroDR, where we've got a lot of our Australian species, a lot of our really important work has happened with amphibians and reptiles.
• 1:02:53
  And in this facility, uh it's the Amphibian Reptile and Conservation Center.
• 1:02:58
  It really is a celebration of all of that conservation work.
• 1:03:01
  You can see species in there like the Southern Corroboree frog that only exist in our breeding programs, both here and in situ up in Kosciuszko National Park.
• 1:03:11
  So that's...
• 1:03:12
  That's really exciting.
• 1:03:13
  And then out of there, I'd also say the Blue Mountains Bush Walk is another really good one for our international visitors.
• 1:03:20
  So I talked about the region honey eater before, only 350 of them left.
• 1:03:24
  We flock them in there before we release them to the wild.
• 1:03:27
  So it's a great place to see them for any bird twitches out there, but also things like the Brushed-Hower Rock Wallaby, which are critically endangered, close to extinction.
• 1:03:36
  And we have uh had them breeding in that facility as well.
• 1:03:40
  So I think they're great ones to visit.
• 1:03:42
  Yep.
• 1:03:43
  And then um as I mentioned before, we do do a concert series every summer.
• 1:03:48
  So February and March, which is called Twilight at Taronga.
• 1:03:51
  So if guests are coming to Sydney over that time and they do want to have a uniquely local type of experience, um that's a range of both international and Australian artists and
• 1:04:02
  comedy galas, et cetera.
• 1:04:04
  on one of the stages situated down at the concert lawn um within Taronga as well.
• 1:04:10
  And again, it's a lovely one, bring a picnic.
• 1:04:12
  It's very Australian, bring your picnic, you know, and really have a lovely time while you're listening to some great Australian artists.
• 1:04:20
  Excellent.
• 1:04:20
  think I can hear the cockatoo screeching in the background there.
• 1:04:23
  um Meg, to wrap this up, can you just give us a quick overview of some of the product that we have that we can add on to any itinerary?
• 1:04:32
  Because Go A is a customized FIT travel company, which means we will build your itinerary in any way you want, plug stuff in.
• 1:04:39
  And anything that any existing popular itineraries we have, which already include Turunga.
• 1:04:46
  Absolutely, so I've got three that I was just gonna talk about today and I think Don can insert some details for whoever's watching the video.
• 1:04:52
  One of them is our guest, it's our splendid Sydney package.
• 1:04:55
  It's probably our most popular Sydney package.
• 1:04:57
  So it's arrival transfers, we've got accommodation, we've got some sightseeing in there.
• 1:05:00
  That particular one there is fantastic for the entry that the mom was talking about.
• 1:05:04
  So it's got the entry, plus it's got the 48 hour hop on hop off cruise.
• 1:05:09
  Obviously you don't have to do both, you can just do the entry.
• 1:05:12
  We've got our, what I've.
• 1:05:14
  One of my favorite packages is our signature Sydney.
• 1:05:16
  And this one actually includes a wildlife retreat at the start.
• 1:05:19
  So this is essentially designed as an arrival package.
• 1:05:22
  So somebody would fly in in the morning.
• 1:05:23
  We've actually got a private, um basically it's an airport meet and greet and three hour tour.
• 1:05:29
  So basically they're met at the airport.
• 1:05:31
  They have three hours with a private guide who will literally do anything they want.
• 1:05:35
  He will take them for a walk.
• 1:05:36
  He will take them for a coffee.
• 1:05:37
  He will, I don't know, hold their hand and walk along the beach.
• 1:05:41
  But essentially three hours private touring, you know, they can do city sites.
• 1:05:44
  It really can be personalized and from there they'll drop them off at the Wildlife Retreat.
• 1:05:48
  They have the overnight experience.
• 1:05:51
  You could then if you wanted to.
• 1:05:52
  I haven't actually included it, but I probably will.
• 1:05:54
  Pop the wildlife, the day tour in there afterwards and then they get private transfer back to a Sydney hotel and continue on with their arrangement there.
• 1:06:02
  But that's a really nice way to arrive in Sydney.
• 1:06:05
  And then we've got another one, which is our Sydney Plus.
• 1:06:08
  which is just an upgraded version, I guess, of our Splendid Sydney.
• 1:06:11
  So sort of, know, slightly higher accommodation, some more small group and private tours.
• 1:06:15
  And we've included the wildlife experience in that one there.
• 1:06:17
  But it really, our destination specialists, they're experts.
• 1:06:20
  They can build these products in, they can tailor make any package that you may need for your clients.
• 1:06:26
  And I think you've heard too, um, Monica, that there are so many different options and variations now and coming to Toronto, uh, to back up megastack and there that we can
• 1:06:38
  definitely customize not only your Sydney experience, can really now custom a experience beyond just.
• 1:06:45
  Yeah.
• 1:06:45
  uh
• 1:06:49
  like Mon suggested, know, that's only a small um selection of the tools that are available.
• 1:06:54
  There's more as well.
• 1:06:56
  And I think, you know, we're very good at customizing.
• 1:06:58
  So if you do have clients who are wanting something a little bit more bespoke, who have maybe a really big interest in one particular animal or want to learn a little bit more,
• 1:07:07
  then we're definitely great at building out those bespoke experiences as well, based on times, how long they've got here on site.
• 1:07:15
  So your destination specialist can always contact Megan, the team, and we'll be able to definitely build out something more unique for those guests as well.
• 1:07:25
  Okay, thanks, Meg, for that.
• 1:07:27
  So again, you can see the tronga.
• 1:07:30
  We'll put it this way.
• 1:07:31
  My experience as a kid, long time ago, it was, you you go to see animals and that was about it at the time.
• 1:07:36
  A couple of little extras, but it's advanced and evolved, better term.
• 1:07:42
  It's evolved so much more over the years, which is awesome.
• 1:07:46
  The amount of conservation work, which I expected some, but the depth and length, Nick, that you explained the tronga.
• 1:07:53
  is doing and there's obviously more to it than that is impressive.
• 1:07:57
  It's fantastic.
• 1:07:59
  It takes the Toronto experience well beyond what it used to be, which is good.
• 1:08:03
  think everything needs to evolve and Toronto most definitely has.
• 1:08:07
  And again, you can just be you can go and visit for the day and just walk through the environment.
• 1:08:13
  You can look at the animals, read the signs and be content.
• 1:08:17
  Or you can just get down that a good wormhole.
• 1:08:21
  of all these behind the scene experiences uh in time seeing uh the hospital in action, getting in depth instructions and information from private guides, staying overnight, raw
• 1:08:34
  and snore, wildlife retreat.
• 1:08:36
  Again, it's got so much on offer.
• 1:08:38
  And you've heard throughout our presentation today, know, views of Sydney here, fantastic that.
• 1:08:45
  The property that Tronga sits on, if it was to ever sell would make
• 1:08:49
  whoever owns it, guess it's the government owns the land, make them gazillionaires even more so than governments are.
• 1:08:55
  But it's such prime real estate, the views to the harbor are fantastic.
• 1:09:00
  And what I was amazed, even as a kid, when you came across on a ferry and you'd look like you'd see the jetty where the ferry is going to pull in, you'd look up and you couldn't
• 1:09:09
  really tell that there was a large, I'll use the Z word, zoo there because it was just covered in canopy.
• 1:09:15
  And that was 30, 40 years ago.
• 1:09:17
  And Nick was saying 67 % now is
• 1:09:19
  covered.
• 1:09:20
  It's just a stunning location ah to experience Sydney on arrival.
• 1:09:25
  It is the best way if you're not getting out into the country to get up very close and personal without touching of course endemic Australian wildlife and stuff that you'll
• 1:09:33
  never see or very rarely see if you are out in the country yourself like platypus particularly ah wombat to a degree.
• 1:09:41
  know you're almost it's almost impossible you'll see them in the wild by chance so you can get very close to this plus the more
• 1:09:49
  we consider exotic, know, lions, elephants, giraffes, et cetera.
• 1:09:53
  It is stunning.
• 1:09:54
  ah I can't but congratulate stronger on how it has evolved and how much effort you're putting into protecting the Australian wildlife, the foreign wildlife as well.
• 1:10:06
  Kudos to you and your teams out there.
• 1:10:08
  ah The fact you've got all these uh professionals on staff.
• 1:10:12
  Nicky said, how many scientists and PhDs?
• 1:10:15
  Yeah, we've got about 28 scientists and then another 14 vets and vet nurses and yeah, a big conservation team because that is our raison d'etre.
• 1:10:26
  That's our focus.
• 1:10:27
  Yeah.
• 1:10:28
  And it, and it's obvious that that's what stronger is in the modern day, which is, which awesome.
• 1:10:33
  So on that note, I would like to thank Monica and Nick for getting up.
• 1:10:37
  Okay.
• 1:10:38
  Let me ask, is it, I know it's eight or was eight o'clock in the morning for you.
• 1:10:40
  Is that early for you guys?
• 1:10:41
  Is when you normally start, are you normally up with the lions and that type of thing?
• 1:10:45
  Yeah, this time of year, we haven't hit daylight savings yet.
• 1:10:49
  So the sun's up bright and early.
• 1:10:51
  We've got the Channel Bill cookers that have arrived in Sydney now.
• 1:10:54
  They're migratory and they're very noisy in the morning.
• 1:10:58
  Hey, like again, completer side here just popped in my head.
• 1:11:01
  Of all your staff, which you have many, like you just mentioned on the conservatory side, do your staff live on premises or do people like do your staff commute in?
• 1:11:11
  We have people who stay overnight on premises that are looking after our accommodation programs, but we do have a lot of people who commute into site as well.
• 1:11:20
  m
• 1:11:21
  Again, that's purely a personal curiosity question.
• 1:11:25
  I'd to thank Meg for hanging back after hours to talk.
• 1:11:28
  I can see my lighting's changed, you know when we started daylight now that it's a little bit darker outside now Switch is just too far away to get to
• 1:11:40
  I know we're ahead of you, the future looks bright, guys.
• 1:11:43
  It's a lovely day.
• 1:11:45
  You're in the group with us and I'm in our little studio in the basement so my light doesn't change at all.
• 1:11:50
  So again, Monica and Nick, thank you very much for your time.
• 1:11:53
  I found that truly enthralling and enlightening.
• 1:11:57
  I learnt so much today.
• 1:11:58
  I again had no idea that Taronga before it was Taronga was at Moor Park.
• 1:12:01
  So there you go.
• 1:12:04
  Fun fact, was with Monica last week in Los Angeles.
• 1:12:07
  exactly.
• 1:12:08
  So a week ago she was in North America and now look she is.
• 1:12:11
  Okay, you should have dropped by our edge.
• 1:12:17
  Anyway, again, thank you guys for your time.
• 1:12:18
  Thank you.
• 1:12:20
  Thank you people out there, agents.
• 1:12:21
  We know your time is precious and we appreciate you listening in to our podcast, it through the headphones or watching it on YouTube.
• 1:12:30
  Thank you, Monica.
• 1:12:30
  Thank you, Nick.
• 1:12:31
  Thank you, Meg.
• 1:12:32
  Thank you out there.
• 1:12:32
  And we'll talk to you next time.
• 1:12:34
  uh
• 1:12:35
  Thank you.
• 1:12:36
  Bye.
• 1:12:38
  you