Billabong Sanctuary: Is it worth it?

Billabong’s promotional materials show visitors cuddling koalas. Some of their staff say they run more like a zoo than a sanctuary, and haven’t always put the animals’ welfare first. But we discovered there’s reason to believe things might be improving very quickly, starting now.

What is it?

Situated about 20 minutes’ drive from Townsville, Billabong Sanctuary covers 27 acres and houses over 70 native animal species, plus a few non-native species including American alligators and Burmese pythons. They have an extensive daily itinerary of animal shows and talks, including feeding the crocodiles and allowing visitors to hold reptiles.

Billabong claims to be a wildlife sanctuary, although you could argue it operates much more as a zoo. There’s no legal restrictions around using the word “sanctuary”, so while it sounds good on the surface, it doesn’t guarantee any better welfare standards for the animals.

Some animals there are rescued from worse situations and given a safe home at Billabong, such as a pair of dingoes who were kept as pets and could no longer be looked after. But others appeared to simply be there for tourist entertainment, such as American alligators. We believe there can be value in this - educating people about wild animals can make the public care more about their conservation - but it’s still difficult to justify calling this a sanctuary.

Did we enjoy it?

We actually enjoyed Billabong more than we expected to, thanks to the incredibly knowledgable guides who led some of the talks and shows on the day.

While the leaflet and show itinerary would have you believe Billabong is set up to put animals on show for profit, the guides at each talk were actually deeply passionate about improving welfare and public respect for the animals in their care. Not only did they put a lot of emphasis on education about the threats facing the animals, they were also very happy to take extra time answering our questions and discussing wildlife conservation at length.

What impact does it have?

Planet

Billabong holds Ecotourism Australia’s Advanced Ecotourism certification, and makes numerous public, active commitments to sustainable practices. This includes locally grown and sourced food for their animals, thousands of planted native trees providing natural shade, over 150 solar panels and buildings designed to use natural ventilation rather than air conditioning units.

Our visit showed all of this to be true, and even communicated clearly to visitors, for example with a sign in the toilets explaining how grey water is reused for irrigation.

More can be found on their extensive Excellence in Ecotourism page.

Animals

This is where Billabong’s KindScore rating, and their marketing materials, are the most interesting.

When we picked up the leaflet for Billabong, the front cover shows a tourist cuddling a less-than-impressed koala. Holding or patting koalas is illegal in most Australian states, but still legal in Queensland.

When we spoke to staff about this interaction, we learned that it’s actually been stopped now, and Billabong only allows visitors to get close to koalas for a picture without touching them. This is part of a series of changes and improvements to the animal welfare across the park, following its recent acquisition by CaPTA Group (who also own the Butterfly Sanctuary we wrote about).

We were still uncomfortable watching the reptile show, in which a baby crocodile with its mouth taped shut is passed between a number of children for photos. Staff assured us that they check the animals for signs of stress, and rotate them so one is never handled too often. So while it seems that Billabong do their best to ensure it isn’t cruel, the handling experience is still an unnecessary discomfort, and also risks teaching children that dangerous animals like crocodiles and snakes are okay to be touched. In our opinion, Billabong would be better off stopping all animal handling experiences.

Using KindScore is the ideal, quick way to see this kind of information for any wildlife experience and understand how good it actually is for the animals involved.

People

Until it’s very recent acquisition by CaPTA, Billabong was family-owned. It’s still under ownership of a relatively local (North Queensland) company and employs local people, as well as giving valuable work placements to veterinary students from James Cook University. They’re deservedly recognised as a community benefit in the Townsville area.

The KindScore - “Good”, but with a caveat

Billabong Sanctuary gave us one of the most interesting and potentially divisive KindScore ratings we’ve seen so far. They ranked really well for Planet and People, and justifiably so. They also tick the boxes for accreditations, such as their Zoo and Aquarium Assocation membership.

But until they move further towards an observation-only model and stop so much wildlife handling and feeding by tourists, they aren’t going to score well for animal welfare.

Should you go?

Often, people who care about animal welfare will avoid wildlife experiences such as Billabong entirely because they don’t want to incentivise animal captivity, which is very understandable.

However, conservation efforts for wildlife need money, and they need the public to respect and care about the wildlife. Experiences like Billabong can provide this valuable service and, with the right practices, still keep a high standard of animal welfare. They also need welfare-minded tourists coming and giving this feedback, so they know there’s demand for change.

Billabong itself seems to be improving their welfare standards this year, but they still have some way to go, so we’d say this is definitely one to keep an eye on. If you’re undecided on going, we’d recommend a visit, but talk to the staff there about their view of the animal welfare and what further changes you’d like to see implemented.