Healesville Sanctuary, formally known as the Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary, is a zoo specialising in native Australian animals. It is located at Healesville in rural Victoria, Australia, and has a history of breeding native animals. It is one of only two places to have successfully bred a platypus, the other being Sydney's Taronga Zoo. It also assists with a breeding population of the endangered helmeted honeyeater.[1]
Guided tours, bird shows and information areas are available to visitors.
History
Dr Colin MacKenzie (knighted in 1929) set up the Institute of Anatomical Research in 1920 on 78 acres (32ha) of land formerly part of the Aboriginal reserve known as Coranderrk. The Reserve passed to the Healesville Council in 1927 and became the Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary in 1934.
The first platypus bred in captivity was born in the Sanctuary in 1943 when David Fleay managed it.
The park was placed under the management of the Victorian Zoological Parks and Gardens Board on 27 June 1978.[2]
In 2025, Healesville Sanctuary opened the Australian Platypus Conservation Centre, a dedicated facility for the rehabilitation and release of injured or sick platypuses. The centre includes climate-controlled ponds, burrowing banks, and monitoring technology to support both recovery and research, while a future visitor experience space is planned to promote public engagement and conservation awareness.[4]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
