Wildlife Trails

This section features information on wildlife trails that have been developed by Wildlife Tourism Australia. For a copy of our policy on developing trails, please click here

Wildlife Trails in various regions of Australia show you some of the best places to see wildlife in those regions. So far, WTA has supported wildlife trails in Adelaide, Tasmania and Southern Queensland. More trails are planned for the future!

Wildlife Trails feature on a free brochure, including a map and an indexed list of captive wildlife attractions, eco lodges in areas of free-ranging wildlife and other wildlife tourism venues within a particular region of Australia. The brochure is distributed widely throughout through Visitor Information Centres, tourism outlets, tourism operators and is available below on this page of the Wildlife Tourism Australia website.

The purpose of the trail is to promote to local, interstate and international visitors the variety of wildlife tourism experiences easily reached from the major population centres and regions. In doing so, Wildlife Trails aim to;

In 2003, Dr. Mark Edwards of Earth Sanctuaries, public officer and (then) vice-president of WTA, suggested the idea of a map showing wildlife tourism experiences within an hour?s drive of Adelaide. The idea was inspired by the Cairns Charter promoting partnerships in ecotourism, and was greeted with enthusiasm by local operators, the South Australian Tourism Bureau and National Parks. The Adelaide Wildlife Trail was subsequently launched at the inaugural Workshop of WTA in 2003 at Warrawong Sanctuary in the Adelaide Hills.

The first stage of Adelaide's Wildlife Trail was jointly launched by a number or partners in November 2003, at the inaugural workshop of WTA. A total of 90,000 brochures were printed and continue to be distributed throughout SA and Victoria. The partners include: SATC, DEH and the following tour operators: Adelaide Zoo, Cleland Wildlife Park, Gorge Wildlife Park, Granite Island Nature Park, Monarto Zoological Park, Rodney Fox Shark Museum, SA Whale Centre, Temptation Sailing, Urimbirra Wildlife Experience, Warrawong Earth Sanctuary. The original aim of the Trail is "To increase visitation and awareness of Wildlife Tourism attractions near Adelaide and support attractions around South Australia"

A second edition has now been released in 2006, please download the new trail brochure below! 

The Southern Queensland Wildlife Trail, a co-operative venture between 20 operators in the region, was launched at Binna Burra Mountain Lodge on Sunday 17 April 2005 at 11.00am by Bradley Trevor Greive, bestselling author of The Blue Day Book and Priceless: The vanishing beauty of a fragile planet. 

The Southern Queensland Wildlife Trail, which encompasses the regions of Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, hinterlands and islands, aims to promote to local, interstate and international visitors the variety of wildlife tourism experiences that can be easily reached within a two-hour drive of Brisbane.

Participants in the trail include Australia Zoo, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Binna Burra Mountain Lodge, Birding Services Brisbane, Tamborine Mountain Glow-worm Caves, Walkabout Creek Wildlife Centre, Araucaria Ecotours, O'Reilly's Rainforest Guesthouse, Noosa North Shore, SeaWorld, Redlands Indigiscapes Centre, Straddie Kingfisher Tours, Dreamworld, Rob's Rainforest Explorer Day Tours, Mt Barney Lodge Country Retreat, Mt Warning B&B Retreat/Sense Adventures, Cruise Maroochy and Bushwacker Ecotours.

Wildlife Tourism Australia president, Tonia Cochran, says the trail aims to increase visitor?s enjoyment of the area and enhance their knowledge and understanding of wildlife.

?Wildlife tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the tourism industry, with international visitors attracted by the unique and diverse range of fauna to be found in our country. The number of Australians who choose to include wildlife experiences in their holiday choices is also growing, with the south-east Queensland region reporting annual an increase in wildlife tourism visitors of around 12 per cent per year."

?Southern Queensland is one of the country?s highest areas of biodiversity, and we hope to raise awareness of this fact and make it easy for visitors to come face-to-face and learn about the opportunities that exist to view our unique birds and animals,? she says."

Please download the trail brochure below! 

This project has been a joint initiative between the Tasmanian Branch of WTA, Tourism Tasmania and the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service. Twenty operators have worked together to create a very fine looking brochure which is an excellent example of cooperative marketing. 80 000 copies of the Tasmanian Wildlife brochure have now been printed and approximately 20 000 copies have been distributed within Tasmania, at Tourism Tas overseas agencies and elsewhere in Australia. 

Please download the trail brochure below!