Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
The place behind the habitats.
An old cane field, a bird and butterfly sanctuary and a town founded in a gold rush offer several ways into the story of Wildlife Habitat.
On this page
Country and town
Wildlife Habitat acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Country on which it stands. In the Kuku Yalanji language, Port Douglas is called Jabulkanji.
The town was founded in 1877, after gold was found on the Hodgkinson goldfield inland, and later shipped sugar from its wharf. The park stands on what was once a cane field.
From sanctuary to wildlife park
Rainforest Habitat opened in June 1989 as a bird and butterfly sanctuary. It was renamed Wildlife Habitat after Charles and Pip Woodward bought it on 1 October 2005.
Today the park is part of the CaPTA Group, and its eight acres are laid out as five habitats.
Care behind the scenes
The park runs a Tropical Animal Rehabilitation Centre and keeps Lumholtz’s tree kangaroos in a breeding programme.
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.
