We are beyond pleased to announce that the NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and Environment Minister Matt Kean have announced that Taronga will receive $37.5 million from the NSW Government to help build two brand-new Wildlife Hospitals – one at Taronga Zoo Sydney and one at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo. 

In addition, the funding will also help to fund a state-of-the-art Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Centre and Platypus Visitor and Education Facility.

Not only is this an incredible moment in Taronga’s history, but it is an incredible step for the future of both wildlife and wildlife conservation. This commitment has come at a critical moment in time as we find ourselves in the midst of a sixth mass extinction. Australia has the unenviable record of having the highest mammalian extinction rate in recent history, and a staggering 3 billion animals were either killed or displaced as a result of the recent bushfire crisis.

Now more than ever, we need to commit and continue the incredible work that will help alter the trajectory that faces Australian wildlife. 

“Taronga is a Sydney Harbour icon with more than 1.1 million people visiting the more than 4000 animals from over 350 species that call the Zoo home every year,” Mr Perrottet said. “This new hospital will bolster the zoo’s emergency care capacity.”

“Taronga is the primary wildlife hospital on the East Coast of NSW, with admissions coming from as far as Newcastle in the north, Lithgow in the west and Jervis Bay in the south,” Mr Kean said.

The Wildlife Hospitals at Taronga Sydney and Dubbo will expand our capacity to rehabilitate and rescue threatened wildlife, as well as creating an exciting and engaging experience for its guests. They will also address a critical gap in the state’s response to wildlife rescue and cement NSW as global leaders in animal rehab and conservation.