Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Parklands on the western edge.
An introduction to the Western Sydney Parklands, where Sydney Zoo stands at Bungarribee, between Blacktown and Mount Druitt.
On this page
Read the parklands
Sydney Zoo stands at Bungarribee in the Western Sydney Parklands, about 38 km west of the city centre, beside the Great Western Highway and close to the M4 and M7 motorways.
A guide can give context without turning a place into a backdrop. Notice how habitats are grouped by region, how paths connect them, and how shade and water are used across the site.
Habitats and paths
The zoo’s 16.5 hectares are arranged in precincts, with wide paths designed to be accessible throughout.
Begin with a detail and ask how it was designed and is maintained. A photograph alone cannot tell you who built a habitat or cares for the animals in it, or the conditions in which they work.
A Sydney Zoo chapter
Sydney Zoo shows a newer side of Western Sydney: a zoo opened in 2019, on Darug Country, with animals from Africa, Asia and Australia.
Look at the meeting of the two: a modern zoo and the parklands around it.
Make room for context
Pair this reading with the zoo’s history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places or represents the people who run them.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
