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apollonaut. Built by People Who've Been

An Apollonaut travel guide

The place behind the wings.

A rainforest village, a breeding laboratory and the butterflies of the tropics offer several ways into the story of the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary.

A blue Ulysses butterfly among leaves in the flight aviary of the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary
On this page

Djabugay Country

The rainforest around Kuranda has been home to the Djabugay people for more than 10,000 years.

The village that grew here after 1885, and the sanctuary that opened in it in 1987, are recent chapters in that much longer history.

A sanctuary built by hand

Paul and Sue Wright conceived, designed and built the sanctuary, which opened in 1987. Its laboratory raises every butterfly in the aviary.

Since 2007 the sanctuary has belonged to the CaPTA Group.

Butterflies of the tropics

Among the species in the aviary are the Ulysses butterfly, the Cairns birdwing, the red lacewing, the cruiser and the orchard swallowtail, with the Hercules moth among the exhibits.

This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.

Read at the source

Sources & further reading

Links lead to the original publishers.

The Apollonaut collection

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