Perth Travel Forum

I am debating which of these Wildlife Parks I should take the kids-Caversham, Cohuna or King's Park? I would like to see all but unfortunately, I only have time for one.Obviously, seeing the kangaroos and koalas are a must-do but which one would be best for the kids?

Hi, Kings Park is a botanical park with views over Perth, 5 minutes on the city bus(free service) will get you there. I have never seen a koalas there, but recommend you visit as it is a " must see" location.

Caversham Park has all sorts of activities as well as animals, I have not been thr for 15 years but I believe it is very good. There should be kangaroos, Koalas I am not sure. You will need a car to get to Caversham.

Your over option is to visit Perth Zoo, located in South Perth, it is a 10 minute Public Ferry ride from Barrack Street Wharf in Perth City centre. The zoo is very attractive and offers the lot. I recommend you take a picnic lunch with you.

Another option is to drive 40km north of the city to Yanchep Park where there is a colony of Koalas in the wild and plenty of kangaroos.I would most probable choose Yanchep and it is also the cheapest option. The Perth Zoo is top class, but entry is much more expensive.

Good Luck,
Mike

King's Park is not a wild life park as such. But as it overlooks the city you should make the effort to go have a look, you will get some great photos there. There is also a tree-top walk there as well :-)

I havent been to the Caversham Wildlife Park but would recommend that as it is located at Whiteman Park which is very interesting and it's also close to the Swan Valley.

Col & Sue

Hi, When I said Caversham I meant Whiteman Park.

Good Luck,
Mike

There are no animals in Kings Park, it's focus is botanical. It is a must see destination in Perh however - fabulous views, botanical gardens, an Aboriginal culture centre, war memorial, bushland walks, beautiful gift shop.

If you want your children to feed the animals, you will need to go to one of the wildlife parks. Perh Zoo doesn't allow feeding of any of its animals though its bushland walk does bring you into close contact with kangaroos - the koals are in a seperate enclosure. It also has a specially lit nocturnal house where you can see lots of animals that are usually active at night.

Cohunu is the only park that allows people to hold a koala but they have a height restriction of 140cm to do this - koals are surprisingly heavy creatures.
http://www.cohunu.com.au/photo.html

I had a brief stop at Caversham as part of a day trip to see the Pinnacles and Lancelin sand dunes. The stop was mainly to see koalas, wombats and kangaroos.

They don't let you hold the koalas, but do let you get fairly close - far too close in my opinion, as the animals are then subject to a swarm of over-enthusiastic tourists with automatic camera flashes. They also subject a wombat to being lifted on and off the laps of tourists for photo calls. Not my cup of tea, I'm afraid (not the wombat's, I suspect).

Kings Park was great, I thoroughly enjoyed that and would have loved more time to explore more of it.

Another option might be to head out to somewhere like Yanchep National Park. I visited with a small group of other VTers and we were able to get quite close to a big mob of kangaroos there just by being a little patient. There is plenty of birdlife there as well.

Oops, I see Yanchep was already suggested :-)

Caversham is a great place to take kids. You get to feed and pat the kangaroos and get real close to the koalas. They have baby animals to feed and pat as well as a comical donkey that has everyone in fits of laughter. There's also camel rides. Caversham is part of Whiteman Park which is also a fun place. It has a tram, little train and picnic/bbq area with play equipment.

Kings Park although not a wildlife park, is not to be missed. It has wonderful views over Perth and a lovely nature walk with a beautiful fountain, meandering stream & treetop bridge. A lovely idea is to catch the tram up to Kings Park from the bell tower on the Swan River.

Cheers, Ann :o)

Another vote for Caversham with kids. Plenty of activities and chances to get close to animals. Perth zoo is fantastic, but I found that sometimes it isn't easy to spot the animals because they have plenty of opportunities to hide in dense vegetation (which is great from the animals' point of view, but kids might be disappointed).
And if you want to see a Tasmanian Devil Caversham is your only choice, the zoo doesn't have them.

As for the wombat in Caversham, it seems they only pass her ("Big Babs" is a girl) onto visitors' laps when there aren't too many people around, if it's crowded the zookeeper holds her, and they don't have her out all day long. She seemed quite content on my lap, by the way!

I prefer Cohunu of all the parks, Its my favourite my parents usedto take me there all the time when I was a little girl and i have many photos ofme feeding an array of animals!!

You can get up close and personal to all the animals they give you a bag of feed at reception this is mainly for the kangaroos. Also the massive bird cage is gorgeous with all the birds flying around and landing on you. Also the peacocks are spectacular walking around the park!!

I also support Cohunu aspart of the entrance fee goes to charity!!