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.
The zoo is set in a natural bushland environment where paths wind through different habitat areas showcasing wallabies, wombats, dingoes, kangaroos, and over 200 native bird varieties.
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 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.
In 2009, the sanctuary was threatened by the Black Saturday bushfires, and the sanctuary evacuated their threatened species to Melbourne Zoo.
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.
Animals and exhibits
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Sarcophilus_harrisii_-Healesville_Sanctuary-8a.jpg|Tasmanian devil
File:Close_up_of_Lace_monitor_in_Healesville_Sanctuary,_Victoria,_Australia.jpg|Lace monitor
File:Captively_bred_Helmeted_Honeyeater_at_the_Healesville_Sanctuary_in_Healesville,_Victoria,_Australia.jpg|Helmeted honeyeater (captive bred)
File:Red tailed Black Cockatoo in flight.jpg|Red tailed black cockatoo
</gallery>
;General exhibits
- Apostlebird
- Common death adder
- Dingo
- Eastern barn owl
- Eastern blue-tongued lizard
- Emu
- Helmeted honeyeater
- Jacky lizard
- Lace monitor
- Laughing kookaburra
- Powerful owl
- Ridge-tailed monitor
- Spotted-tailed quoll
- Tasmanian devil
- Wedge-tailed eagle
;Koalas Area
- Koala
- Parma wallaby
- Short-beaked echidna
- Tasmanian pademelon
;Birds of the bush
- Eastern whipbird
- Fan-tailed cuckoo
- Orange-bellied parrot
- Princess parrot
- Rose-crowned fruit-dove
- Swift parrot
;Kangaroos
- Red kangaroo
- Western grey kangaroo
- Goodfellow's Tree-kangaroo
;Gang-gang Aviary
- Gang-gang cockatoo
- Bush stone-curlew
;World of the Platypus/Platypusary
- Platypus
- Common yabby
- Macquarie perch
- Murray crayfish
- Short-finned eel
- Southern pygmy perch
;Woodland Aviary
- Common bronzewing
- Crested pigeon
- Eastern yellow robin
- Musk lorikeet
- Painted buttonquail
- Peaceful dove
- Purple-crowned lorikeet
- Sacred kingfisher
- Satin bowerbird
- Variegated fairy-wren
- White-browed woodswallow
;Rock-wallabies area
- Brush-tailed rock-wallaby
- Australian pelican
- Australian white ibis
- Black swan
- Dusky moorhen
- Magpie goose
- Pacific black duck
- Purple swamphen
<!-- (currently closed for renovations) ;Arid Birds
- Budgerigar
- Diamond firetail
- Gouldian finch
- Painted finch
- Rainbow bee-eater
- Scarlet-chested parrot
- Variegated fairy-wren-->
;Wetlands Aviary
- Cattle egret
- Glossy ibis
- Yellow-billed spoonbill
;Wallabies
- Parma wallaby
- Red-necked wallaby
- Swamp wallaby
;Wombat Closeup
- Bare-nosed wombat
- Brolga
- Short-beaked echidna
;Animals of the Night
- Agile antechinus
- Australian green tree frog
- Barn owl
- Bilby
- Eastern quoll
- Feathertail glider
- Golden spiny-tailed gecko
- Leadbeater's possum
- Long-nosed potoroo
- Marbled velvet gecko
- Mountain pygmy-possum
- Northern quoll
- Peron's tree frog
- Rufous bettong
- Smoky mouse
- Smooth knob-tailed gecko
- Spinifex hopping-mouse
- Squirrel glider
- Sugar glider
;Land of Parrots Aviary
- Budgerigar
- Eclectus parrot
- Major Mitchell's cockatoo
- Red-tailed black cockatoo
- Australian brush-turkey
- Black-faced cuckoo-shrike
- Brush bronzewing
- Pacific emerald dove
- White-headed pigeon
- Wonga pigeon
- Zebra finch
;Reptile Encounter
- Broad-headed snake
- Brown tree snake
- Chappell Island tiger snake
- Coastal taipan
- Eastern bearded dragon
- Eastern blue-tongued lizard
- Eastern brown snake
- Eastern water skink
- Freshwater crocodile
- Frill-necked lizard
- Green tree frog
- Guthega skink
- Mangrove monitor
- Mertens' water monitor
- Painted turtle
- Pink-tongued lizard
- Red-bellied black snake
- Rusty desert monitor
- Spotted tree monitor
;Lyrebird Forest
- Superb lyrebird
- Australian king parrot
- Bell miner
- Brush bronzewing
- Pacific emerald dove
- Satin bowerbird
- Superb fairy-wren
- Topknot pigeon
- White-headed pigeon
- White-naped honeyeater
- Wonga pigeon
;Larger Wetlands Aviary
- Australasian shoveller
- Black swan
- Blue-billed duck
- Darter
- Freckled duck
- Great cormorant
- Great egret
- Grey teal
- Little pied cormorant
- Magpie goose
- Pied cormorant
- Pied heron
- Plumed whistling-duck
- Radjah shelduck
- Royal spoonbill
- Straw-necked ibis
- White-faced heron
;Flying Foxes Area
- Grey-headed flying-fox
- Black-winged stilt
See also
- List of zoos in Australia