Bike or hike around Taronga Western Plains Zoo’s 6 km circuit to warm the kids up this winter! They’ll love seeing all the zoo’s animal youngsters along the way.

Earlier this year the zoo was thrilled to welcome four Giraffe calves in close succession.

“The calves are all doing really well,” Keeper Supervisor Pascale Benoit said. “They have formed a crèche and stick together throughout the day, which is typical of what we would see in the wild. As they’ve grown in confidence they’ve also started to gallop around their exhibit, which has been great to see. It’s not often that we have so many calves at the same time, a very special sight to see this winter.”

A great time to see the Giraffe calves and the rest of the herd is during the daily Giraffes in Focus encounter; for just $7 per person on top of zoo admission you can feed these elegant creatures and don’t forget to smile for a photo!

The first Lion cubs to be born at the zoo are now over 12 months old, and have matured from mischievous to majestic. Male Baako now has a noticeable mane whilst his female siblings Makeba and Zuri are looking more like their mother each day. The trio remain a huge hit with visitors as they rumble, play and chase each other around, particularly in the early hours of the day.

Visitors can find out more about this special pride during the Lion Keeper Talk, 12.15pm daily during the school holidays. It’s one of ten daily Keeper Activities included in the cost of zoo entry, and certainly a highlight of the schedule.

Winter is a great time to check in and see how the rhino youngsters are going, including White Rhino calf, female Kamari, and Greater One-horned (or Indian) Rhino calf, male Rajah.

“Kamari is now six months old and still suckling from her mother Mopani. She still stays quite close to Mopani however is growing in confidence and establishing her place in the herd, and can often be seen running around and exploring the exhibit,” said Pascale.

Rajah, the first Greater One-horned Rhino to be born in Australia, is growing in size and confidence each week, now weighing in at over 350 kgs. Visitors can learn more about this incredible species and Rajah’s story at the 2:15pm daily Keeper Talk.

After visiting the animals warm up at Bahkita’s Cafe, now serving a new Winter Warmers menu! The Zoo is open all year-round and is a great place to relax and unwind with family in the zoo grounds or even in the free Savannah Visitor Plaza with children’s playground, and free viewing of Primate Islands, home to Spider Monkeys and Lemurs.