GALLERY: Billabong Sanctuary gives kids chance to experience what it’s like to be a zookeeper

Kids can get the chance to experience what is like to be a zookeeper at Billabong Sanctuary these school holidays.

Kanna Nishimura, 4, visiting from Japan checks out the turtles at Billabong Sanctuary. Picture: Shae Beplate.

KIDS can get the chance to experience what it’s like to be a zookeeper at Billabong Sanctuary these school holidays.

This month the wildlife park in Nome is starting its Junior Ranger program.

Senior ranger Kate de Koning said the program was popular.

“What we do we send them all in with us. We pretty much take them around the park and do condensed versions of what the zookeepers do,” she said.

Billabong Sanctuary hugely popular with the kids

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Ms de Koning said that children got the chance to feed and interact with animals and help clean their enclosures.

The program is broken up into two age groups 5-8 and 9-12. For the younger age group there are places available on January 14 and 21 while there are spots available for older children on January 16.

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It costs $50 and include a T-shirt and morning tea. To book, phone [phone].

Ms de Koning said Billabong Sanctuary had experienced high visitation numbers these school holidays from the lead-up to Christmas.

“It can be a little crazy but it’s got a nice vibe about the place,” she said.

Miika Martin, from the Gold Coast, was a return visitor with her daughter Kennedy Morrison.

“This is the second time we’ve been here. I think she was more interested in the turtles than anything else this time,” she said.

Kennedy got up close to snakes, wombats, koalas and fed the crocodiles for the first time.

Originally published as GALLERY: Billabong Sanctuary gives kids chance to experience what it’s like to be a zookeeper