Federal Member for Barker Tony Pasin MP has today welcomed Federal Minister for Environment and Energy, the Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP to the Murraylands following an invitation to come and see the work being done at Monarto Zoo.

“Monarto Zoo has had significant success in critical conservation work for both native and exotic species. As such I wanted the Minister to come and see firsthand the work being done here in Barker at this amazing facility,” Mr Pasin said.

In 2016/17 a record-breaking 585,872 people visited the Adelaide and Monarto Zoos.  Member numbers have also grown from 26,000 in 2012 to 46,000 in 2017.

Monarto Zoo is the largest pay-to-enter tourist destination in regional South Australia and a major economic contributor to the region attracting in excess of 130K visitors per year.

“This is a fantastic example of environmental conservation and tourism working together. Monarto Zoo is one of South Australia’s, indeed Australia’s, premier tourist attractions with nothing quite like it outside Africa. It was really beneficial that the Minister saw the facility and heard from the Zoo keepers first hand,” Mr Pasin said.

The Minister and Mr Pasin were given a driving tour of the Zoo by Zoo’s SA CEO Elaine Bensted and Director of Life Sciences, Peter Clark.

Following a driving tour of the Zoo the Minister was inspected the construction progress of the Predator Experience exhibit. The Federal Government contributed $360,000 to the project through the Tourism Demand Driver Infrastructure Fund earlier this year.

The Minister and Mr Pasin were also given a tour and briefing about the native breeding facilities for the Tasmanian Devil, the Black flanked Rock-wallaby (pictured), the Pygmy Blue Tongue Lizard’s, and the Western Swamp Tortoise.

Minister Frydenberg said it was thanks to conservation and breeding programs like those being done at Monarto Zoo that we’re able to help protect our threatened species.

“Thanks to the great work being done an Monarto Zoo vulnerable species like the black-flanked rock-wallaby are being bred and released back into the wild with the help of indigenous rangers,” Minister Frydenberg said.

“The recovery of the black-flanked rock-wallaby is part of the Turnbull government’s Threatened Species Strategy which sets out a road map and highlights how our approach of science, action and partnership can be used to achieve the long-term goal of reversing species decline.”

 

CONTACT: Charlotte Edmunds 8531 2466