Wildlife park sale just like a Hollywood film
KANGAROO Island's Parndana Wildlife Park is for sale and needs the right family to bring to life a movie plot.
KANGAROO Island's Parndana Wildlife Park is for sale and needs the right family to bring to life a movie plot.
Anyone wanting to follow in the footsteps of Matt Damon's character in We Bought A Zoo can buy the wildlife park, complete with a variety of Australia's cutest wildlife species, for $595,000.
The deal offers a fresh start for a family, new jobs, buildings and a 20ha block with plenty of room to expand the animal collection, in one of the world's great island eco-tourism destinations.
Owner Russell Ross said he could see plenty of similarities with the film We Bought a Zoo - a true story about a single dad who decides his family needs a fresh start.
Damon's character Benjamin Mee and his two children move to the zoo and find themselves - and Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson) - through shared experiences.
The park, about 3km west of Parndana in the centre of the island, has been gradually developed by Russell and Shirley Ross during the past 22 years. The second-largest privately owned wildlife park in South Australia is a must-see destination for many visitors to Kangaroo Island.
It includes more than 100 species, mostly Australian natives such as kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, crocodiles, goannas, emus, cassowaries, curlews, echidnas, possums and many birds.
There are cassowaries, sea eagles, wedge-tailed eagles and barking owls rescued in the wild, and 10 wallaby and three kangaroo species.
"We built a house and started with parrots and a heap of aviaries,'' Mr Ross said. "(We) bought some kangaroos and deer and it just gradually grew.'' If not for age and ill health, Mr Ross said he wouldn't be selling the park and could see plenty of scope to continue developing the area.
The sale, handled by Elders Real Estate in Kingscote, includes a three-bedroom house, souvenir shop, large barbecue area, 100 aviaries and a walk-through aviary, heaps of sheds, a feed shed and a big garage.
"There is plenty of value here because as far as the buildings are concerned it would cost well over $1 million to build it today,'' Mr Ross said.
The work includes feeding all the animals every day and maintaining the park, which is open to visitors from 9am to 5pm seven days a week, including Christmas Day.