A laboratory and a garden
Symbio began in 1962 as a small specimen laboratory run by Max and Pat Mapleson. They bought a run-down five-acre property in Helensburgh in 1970 and opened Symbio Animal Gardens there on 18 December 1971.
Farm days
Bob and Fran Grover took over in 1975 and renamed the park Symbio Koala Gardens. They added cow milking in the farmyard, horse and cart rides and a pool for the summer.
A family-run park
John and Margaret Radnidge bought the park in 2000 and renamed it Symbio Wildlife Park. Today the second generation of the family runs it, alongside the Symbio Conservation Foundation, launched in 2025.


