Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of Australia Zoo.
On this page
Reptile park, zoo and wildlife hospital
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1970
A reptile park opens
Bob and Lyn Irwin open the Beerwah Reptile Park, a wildlife park of two acres.
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1980s
A new name
The park grows to four acres and is renamed the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park.
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1991
Steve takes over
Steve Irwin takes over the management of the park and meets Terri Raines.
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1992
The Crocodile Hunter
Steve and Terri marry on 4 June; their crocodile rescue mission becomes the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter. As the series grows, the park is renamed Australia Zoo.
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2004
A wildlife hospital
Steve dedicates the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, which began in an avocado packing shed, to his mother, Lyn.
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2005
The Tiger Temple
The Tiger Temple opens in April.
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2006
Steve Irwin dies
Steve dies on 4 September in a snorkelling accident on the Great Barrier Reef. The road past the zoo is renamed Steve Irwin Way, and Elephantasia opens.
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2011
Africa
The Africa exhibit, a multi-species savanna, opens on 17 September.
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2014
Bindi’s Island
Bindi’s Island opens in December.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
