Alice Springs Desert Park | Zoo

Alice Springs Desert Park

Phone: +61 8 8951 8788

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25.01.2022 Have you seen our latest chalk bomb installation? If not, now is the time to come out and discover the talents of our resident chalk artist Sarah Cook. Make sure you share your photos with friends using #AliceSpringsDesertPark

24.01.2022 These stunning flowers belong to the Wild Orange (Capparis mitchellii). Don’t be deceived by the Orange in the name- these trees are actually close relatives of the little capers you put on pizzas! You have to be quick to catch these amazing blooms- they open at night and are usually withered by the end of the following day! These can be busy little trees around the clock, moths and ants love the sweet scented flowers, this in turn attracts many bats and birds.

22.01.2022 The weather is warming up, are you staying hydrated?

22.01.2022 Here we have one of our resident Perentie (Varanus giganteus) One huge benefit of warmer weather at the Park is that our bigger reptiles become really active, and they don’t get much bigger than the Perentie! This long slender monitor lizard can reach up to 15kg in weight and are very efficient hunters. They use their powerful scent capabilities to sniff out smaller prey such as mice, rabbits, dragons, snakes and bird nests. Have you seen one?

22.01.2022 The Bush Passionfruit (Capparis spinosa ssp. nummularia) have recently come into flower. For most of the year the Passionfruit bush is a fairly indistinct looking plant, until flowering time. Large white lightly scented flowers appear fleetingly and turn a pinkish hue as they age. Then the bush is covered in small green buds of the fruit, which are pickled and consumed as capers in other parts of the world, but turn into the bright orange passionfruit if left on the bush to ...ripen. The pulpy inner of the fruit can be consumed by humans, once separated from the abundant seeds. The plant is prone to being predated upon by the White Caper Butterfly which completely strips the plant of all leaves, this however has no long term effects on the plant and regrowth is rapid. Great for attracting birds and butterflies to your garden. Bush Passionfruit can be found growing along watercourses, river flats and low calcareous hills, usually under large trees which provide shelter from winter frosts to which they are susceptible. See more

21.01.2022 When walking around the Desert Park you might notice lots of footprints, especially in the Sand Country. The culprits are our free-living population of the critically endangered Brush-tailed Bettong (Bettongia pencillata). We recently caught this one on infrared video hopping around the Sand Country - look closely, can you see the bulge in her pouch? That’s a joey!

21.01.2022 Macrozamia macdonnellii MacDonnell Ranges Cycad Perhaps one of the most iconic plants of Central Australia is the MacDonnell Ranges Cycad. Occurring exclusively in the MacDonnell Ranges it is a living reminder of ancient times when the Central Australian landscape was a very different place. Its range is restricted to small scattered populations throughout the gorges of the MacDonnell Ranges where it can be found in rocky stream beds, lower slopes and high up on sheltered r...ock ledges. It is a very distinctive species on account of its large, frond-like bluish-green leaves that radiate out from the apex of a stocky erect trunk that can reach 2m high. The species is dioecious which means the male and female reproductive cones are on separate plants. The female cones are broader and partially enclosing egg-sized seeds with a bright red outer layer. The seed has toxic properties and for this reason it was not utilised as a food source by Arrente people. One of the reasons the MacDonnell Range Cycad is under threat is due to its irregular seed production and the fact that these seeds have short lasting viability. It is classified as Near Threatened in the NT and listed as Vulnerable nationally. #ntherbarium #kew #botanicalgardens #alicespringsnt #seeaustralia #tourismaustralia #alicespringsdesertpark #threatenedspecies

21.01.2022 Happy belated birthday to Ina, our orphaned Echidna! Can you believe it has been almost a year since the Zoology team received Ina at three weeks of age? Based on development, Ina's hatch date was settled on approximately the 9th of November, 2019. You may remember that he only weighed 112 grams on arrival, and now he weighs well over 2.5 kg! Ina spent time with the keepers who hand-reared him, as he enjoyed some birthday enrichment - his favourite food in the end of a party hat.

21.01.2022 Happy New Year from the Alice Springs Desert Park Team! #happynewyear2021 #seeaustralia #ntaustralia #alicespringslife #tourismaustralia #alicespringsdesertpark #schoolholidays

18.01.2022 Now is a great time to catch the spinifex looking fantastic in Desert Rivers habitat! There are a number of species displaying their seed heads including Triodia hubbardii (Hubbards Spinifex), Triodia briziodes (Weeping Spinifex) and Triodia longiceps (Buck Spinifex). Spinifex (Triodia) is one of the most iconic desert plants and uniquely Australian. While most of us probably associate it with being spiked in your lower legs as you walk around the bush, seeing it in full bloom certainly brings a different perspective and highlights its real beauty as the long seed heads move with the breeze.

17.01.2022 It’s National Recycling Week! Fun fact, did you know the Alice Springs Desert Park maps are printed on 100% recycled paper

16.01.2022 NAIDOC Week is a chance for all Australians to acknowledge, celebrate and embrace the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The 2020 theme is: Always Was, Always Will Be. #NAIDOC2020 recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for more than 65,000 years. Staff and rangers throughout the NT wish to acknowledge the Traditional Owners and joint management partners of the land.... Together we are all spiritually and culturally connected to the country. Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Territory Wildlife Park George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens

15.01.2022 Shoaling is a behaviour fish use for a number of reasons. For example, gathering together may have benefits for breeding, feeding, or predator defence. This new group of Sailfin Glassfish are shoaling in our display aquarium at Alice Springs Desert Park. We have recently introduced many new fish to the aquarium so why not come and check them out?

14.01.2022 Merry Christmas! From the Alice Springs Desert Park team!

13.01.2022 That Friday feeling! What are you up to this weekend, planning a visit to the Alice Springs Desert Park should be high on your list

12.01.2022 Ruby Saltbush (Enchylaena tomentose) is a common low shrub that likes to grow under trees. The shrub produces bright red sweet fruit after rains, a favourite snack for Honeyeaters and Bowerbirds. High in vitamin C, these fruit were also popular with early explorers whose poor diet could otherwise give them scurvy!

09.01.2022 National Recycling Week has commenced! Here is an interesting story on how nature recycles. Scarlet Bracket Fungus Pycnoporus sp. are really important to desert ecosystems, busily recycling old materials into stuff animals and plants can use more easily. We don’t usually see them at work as they are buried underground, or in this case inside wood. When it rains its thread-like body grows through the wet wood and digests the tough material. Later when conditions dry out the fungi puts out a ‘fruiting body’ which releases spores which blow off in the wind to find new places to grow. These fruiting bodies are the bits we see growing out of logs like little red shelves.

09.01.2022 The local community group Incite Art has been busy at the Alice Springs Desert Park releasing the perfect timed Bloom installation https://youtu.be/Y4Jc-Ywc8tM. Be sure to check out their short film series at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl1oHEHHzh18WexfEMoy7iw #alicespringsnt #incitearts #ntaustralia

07.01.2022 Stuck for Christmas gift ideas? Did you know we offer 12 months membership, which works out to be as little as $1.43 a week for an adult membership? You receive 12 months unlimited day visits to Alice Springs Desert Park plus our sister park in Darwin, Territory Wildlife Park plus regular newsletter updates with special insider news and offers with access to special tours and events. All this plus lots of open space to enjoy the changing landscape, find a quiet spot to enjoy photography or birdwatching. Step up the pace a bit and watch in awe as our raptors take to the sky at Nature Theatre or pop in after school and spend an hour getting up close to the animals in the Nocturnal House. The options are endless. Purchase an annual membership from our friendly staff on arrival at the entry station. #territorywildlifepark

05.01.2022 Have you booked your place for tomorrow’s Chalk Art Workshop with Sarah Cook? Limited places! Book now! #chalkartists #chalkartofinstagram #alicesprings #alicespringslife #schoolholidays

03.01.2022 Ina our hand-reared Short-beaked Echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus loves nothing more than getting his snotty beak into a nice rotting log. Thanks, but he doesn’t need a tissue, that snot serves a serious purpose. The mucus conducts electrical signals from the ant or termite prey’s nervous systems to special electroreceptors on the tip of his snout. Echidna’s ability to detect electrical fields allows them to find buried batteries! Among mammals this electro sensitivity is a sense exclusive to the Monotremes- the family of the egg-layers like Echidnas and Platypus.