‘Too many structures,too much concrete’:Taronga Zoo at risk of overdevelopment

Plans for a new $14 million reptile exhibit at Taronga Zoo have sparked concerns from community groups that the harbour site is at risk of overdevelopment.

Taronga’sproposal for a Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Centre,which is on public exhibition until August 26,includes a reptile and amphibian exhibit and animal care facility.

Community groups are concerned about the overdevelopment of the Taronga Zoo site at Mosman.

Community groups are concerned about the overdevelopment of the Taronga Zoo site at Mosman.Janie Barrett

The project will replace the zoo’s Reptile World,known as the Serpentaria,which has “reached the end of its useful life”.

Taronga chief executive Cameron Kerr said the new facility would provide a “modern experience” for guests to engage with reptiles and amphibians,designed with the latest,best-practice standards for animal care and welfare.

“It will provide critical breeding space to support zoo-based conservation programs to ensure important species,such as Corroboree Frogs,are protected for decades to come,” he said.

Mr Kerr said the reptile centre would be below the existing tree canopy and not impact views of the zoo from Sydney Harbour.

An artist’s impression of Taronga Zoo’s proposed Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Centre.

An artist’s impression of Taronga Zoo’s proposed Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Centre.Taronga Zoo

A state significant development,the reptile centre is the latest building project at the zoo following the Tiger Trek andAfrican Savannah wildlife precincts,an education centre andeco-resort,which Mr Kerr said was designed to ensure “vital income streams to fund our increasingly ambitious conservation work”.

Kate Eccles,president of the Mosman Parks and Bushland Association,said there had been a “massive amount” of development at the zoo,which had become “a much less attractive venue - too many structures,too much concrete”.

New buildings had also impacted the view of the zoo from the harbour,Ms Eccles said. “From the Mosman ferry,the view used to be mainly one of tree cover with very few buildings. Now there are buildings and fewer trees.”

Ms Eccles praised the zoo for its conservation,research and indigenous program:“The education role is also taken seriously. Sometimes this is at an infotainment level,but all ages and levels of education are catered for.”

But she said the zoo was under pressure to generate money because governments were not prepared to provide adequate funding.

“The expenses of animal care,research and education must be huge,but there must be a way of getting around this without Disneyfying it,” Ms Eccles said.

“Upgrades lean more to the human animal. Play areas for children seem to have become as important as animal habitat.”

Mr Kerr said he was extremely proud of Taronga and the modern zoo it had become,the experiences offered to guests “and the role we play as the first responders and the last line of defence to help save wildlife”.

Exhibits were designed to provide state-of-the-art facilities for animals,while also offering “ways for guests to engage with wildlife and enjoy the visitor experience,” he said.

Upper House Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst said zoos were “primarily entertainment venues”.

“Too many structures and too much concrete may be an eyesore for humans,but it is also a completely unnatural habitat for the animals held captive at the zoo,” she said.

“There is nothing natural about a lion,an elephant or a giraffe living in the middle of an Australian city.”

Previous building plans at the zoo have also attracted concern,with Mosman Council joining residents tooppose construction of an eco-resort.

“Council was of the opinion that a ‘hotel’ was not a permissible use at the zoo or an appropriate use of public land,” Mosman mayor Carolyn Corrigan said.

Cr Corrigan said the council had not opposed building plans for the exhibition and care of animals,but had asked the zoo to consider the traffic and car parking implications of its developments.

“Council has recommended that all applications consider the visual impacts of any structures when viewed from the harbour and to ensure that the existing tree canopy cover is maintained and enhanced,” she said.

Linda Bergin,founding president of the Headland Preservation Group and advocate for Sydney’s heritage parklands,said Taronga needed to ensure it does not “overdevelop its extraordinary bushland headland location to maximise tourist dollars”.

“Education is a valid purpose,but does public viewing of sick animals in the proposed new hospital cross a moral line?” she said.

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Andrew Taylor is a Senior Reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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