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About Gan Garoo |
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 Gan-Garoo
Australian park is a one-of-a-kind zoo in Israel and a wonderful
attraction for children and adults of all ages. The vegetation and
wildlife in Gan Garoo were imported directly from far-off Australia.
Here you can encounter free-roaming kangaroos that you can pet and even
hand-feed. Hear explanations of how the kangaroos are raised, their
methods of reproduction, feeding, and their daily lives in the zoo. View
adorable sleeping koalas, make friends with the cassowary and flying
foxes, hear the songs of beautiful Australian birds, and more...
So what's at Gan-Garoo?
Gan-Garoo extends across an area of approximately four acres.
The zoo's grounds are shaded and pleasant to explore. Visitors may sit
down on benches or at tables or enjoy a picnic on green lawns.
Average time of a
visit to Gan-Garoo: between 1-1/2 and 4 hours, depending on the ages of
children. A particularly interesting and stimulating option available to
you is "In the Trail of 'Kangi' and 'Koali' in the Australian Park",
offering you and your children an active tour that is both fun and
educational.
At the entrance to
Gan-Garoo you'll receive a map that includes riddles, questions as well
as spots in the park where you can receive explanation from guides. We
invite you to hold on to the map and, at the end of your tour, place it
in the raffle box. There's a monthly drawing in which you can win a
prize for the whole family!
The park's koala
compound was built in 2002 in memory of the four members of the
Australian delegation to the Maccabiah Games who died in the bridge
accident (July 7, 1997) – Warren Zines, Yetty Bennett, Elizabeth Sawicki,
and Greg Small.
At the Gan-Garoo
gift shop you may purchase unique souvenirs from Australia – didgeridoo,
boomerang, Emu eggs and furry Australian animal dolls.
There's plenty of parking
available in the adjoining parking lot. Gan-Garoo is wheelchair
accessible and is recommended by the Mapa website.
How was Gan-Garoo established?
In the beginning of the
1990s, Kibbutz Nir David decided to establish a tourist attraction on
the kibbutz's grounds, adjacent to Gan Hashlosha (Sachne) national park.
Numerous ideas were proposed until finally, the decision was made to
establish a unique zoo. After a great deal of thought, it was decided to
build an Australian zoo.
In checking the
feasibility of the plan we discovered two things:
1. That Australian animals are strange and very special.
2. That Australian authorities are not eager to export animals from
their country and that they impose extremely strict conditions upon any
party who wishes to do so.
Yehuda Gat, Gan-Garoo's
founder, established relations with the Australian National Parks
Authority, the Australian ambassador in Israel and a number of zoos in
Austrlia. For our part, we undertook to establish a park of the highest
possible quality and dedicate it to the flora and fauna of the 'fifth
continent' – the wondrous country of Australia. On July 28, 1996, an
inauguration ceremony was held at the Park and attended by the
Australian ambassador as well as many other notable figures.
Gan-Garoo holds an
operator's license issued by the Australian National Parks Authority.
Since then, we have been consistently developing and upgrading the zoo
with additional animals and attractions:
For example we planted a green maze and alongside it, additional logic
and challenging mazes.
And in an operation lasting several years, we imported four koalas and
additional Australian birds…
Gan-Garoo is a success
story that is held in high esteem by the Australians. We became the
first zoo in the world (outside of Australia) in which visitors can
actually pet a kangaroo. We are one of the few zoos in the world that
has succeeded in satisfying the strict conditions set by Australian
authorities in order to receive koalas!
We work ceaselessly to
develop Gan-Garoo – for the enjoyment of our visitors.
Source: official site of
Gan Garoo (2014)
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