WILD AND WONDERFUL NEW WORLD
MORE than 2000 exotic and native animals are now calling western Sydney home as the city’s first new zoo in 100 years opens to the public.
Sydney Zoo opens its gates today with the public able to view more than 95 species from across Australia, Southeast Asia and Africa, including wombats, emus, baboons, spider monkeys, lions and zebras.
The Bungarribee Park zoo – featuring 30 habitats across four precincts – is expected to attract a million visitors a year.
Managing director Jake Burgess said the zoo aimed to inspire change by “creating a sense of wonder and appreciation for the amazing and diverse creatures of the world”.
Humanity is living in an era of “almost unprecedented species decline,” Mr Burgess said at yesterday’s ribbon cutting.
“It is the responsibility of institutions like zoos and museums to educate.”
But animal rights group PETA argued the new zoo shouldn’t be celebrated.
“Even under the best circumstances at the best zoo, wild animals suffer tremendously, both physically and mentally, from the frustration of life in captivity, and they often display neurotic behaviour,” spokeswoman Emily Rice said.
ANTI-TERROR police armed with assault rifles will patrol Brisbane and Canberra airports this Christmas.
Squads will be stationed in seven more airports over the next 18 months. The extra 135 officers will be armed with MK18 short-barrelled rifles and trained to assess hostile threats and behaviour.
They will be accompanied by bomb-detection dogs.
“These highly-trained officers run towards dangerous incidents, not away from them,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. Australia’s terror threat remains at “probable”.