Go wild in Cairns and Great Barrier Reef with many chances to get up close to over 6000 species of wild animals, endangered animals, rainforest animals and birds living around the region.
You will encounter wildlife no matter where you are in the Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region. From random, encounters, to interpretive self-guided rainforest boardwalks, guided coach and outback 4WD tours, guided night spotting excursions, and wetlands abundant with bird life - you might even be lucky enough to spot kangaroos hopping across paddocks as you approach Cairns airport, a 10 minute drive from the Cairns city centre!
By day or by night you can walk along boardwalks and trails complemented by interpretive signage through bushlands in the Gulf Savannah, Atherton Tablelands, Cape York, Cooktown and ancient tropical rainforests in the Daintree/Cape Tribulation, Cairns, Kuranda or the Atherton Tablelands or join a guided tour and encounter thousands species of marsupials, reptiles, birds and butterflies that have survived natural disasters and climate change for over 135 million years.
You can also visit wildlife and crocodile adventure parks in Palm Cove, Port Douglas, Cairns, Mission Beach and the tropical Atherton Tablelands to experience native and exotic wildlife hands-on. Eat your breakfast with tropical birds, have dinner with a pride of lions and hand-feed tame kangaroos. Our wildlife parks are also where you can have your photo taken cuddling a koala, patting a python or kissing a baby crocodile or enjoy lively presentations about snakes and giant birds of prey.
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Maybe you’d prefer to get wet and wild on a salt-water river cruise and see brolgas bathing and giant saltwater crocodiles eating, or take a trip to the Great Barrier Reef and encounter another wild world underwater.
Cairns and Great Barrier Reef is also a hot-spot for bird watchers. Wetlands in the Tropical Tablelands, Gulf Savannah and Cape York are home to some extremely rare and sought after species such as the Golden Bowerbird (Tropical Tablelands), Gouldian Finch (Gulf Savannah) and Eclectus Parrot (Cape York) just to name a few. In Mission Beach particularly, but also around Cairns and in the Daintree/Cape Tribulation areas you might come face to face with an endangered Southern Cassowary, whose numbers are fewer in the wild than Giant Pandas but whose existence is vital to over 120 different species of plants and animals.
Wild platypus are regularly sighted around the Tinaroo Dam near Atherton. Turtle spotting and feeding in the crystal clear waters of Milla Milla Falls as well as Cairns’ Centenary Lakes are also common Cairns and Great Barrier Reef wildlife encounters.
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Birds of Prey
See the fastest and largest birds of prey in the world on show or visit wetlands and Savannah lands to see them in full, wild flight..
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Hand-feeding Kangaroos
Hand-feeding a kangaroo is a must-do Australian experience available in almost every Cairns and Great Barrier Reef nature and wildlife park.
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Granite Gorge
Go fishing and canoeing, explore caves and see wild rock-wallabies, tropical birds, snakes and more at Granite Gorge, just 12 kilometres from Mareeba.
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