The wild story of survival behind Woombye zoo
Zoo CEO Jarrod Schenk feeds the meerkats … “There was going to be no home for any of our animals and it was the most devastating experience of our lives.”
It’s the zoo that grew out of desperation. Now Woombye’s Wildlife HQ is looking at taking on more land at the Big Pineapple, expanding its animal collection and doing night safaris.
“We really are the zoo that should never have been,” said Zoo CEO Jarrod Schenk.
“The owner of the old Alma Park Zoo sold us for a housing development eight years ago. He gave us just six months to move out over 200 animals before the developers moved in.
“There was going to be no home for any of our animals and it was the most devastating experience of our lives.”
Out of desperation to save the zoo and fear of what might happen to the animals Jarrod, who was the Sun Bear keeper, and his boss at the time, Julie Seabrook, stepped in and took on ownership of the animals.
“We committed ourselves to building them a new home at the Big Pineapple,” said Jarrod. “A forever home. Through saving the zoo, and keeping our dream alive, we have formed an unbreakable relationship.”
Jarrod said the new zoo family extends to the incredible keeper team who help care for the animals seven days a week.
“It has been an incredible zoo journey so far and we have always been there to support each other on such a huge responsibility as taking on all of these zoo animals’ lives. The weight of it can be so heavy at times that we have to be there for each other.”
As further validation for their decision the zoo has just been announced as a finalist in the Sunshine Coast Business Awards.
“In the beginning so many people told us our zoo would not survive on the Sunshine Coast.
Julie Seabrook with Mr Schenk.
“They said there was already a huge globally successful zoo and we would not last 12 months. It felt a lot like David going up against Goliath. But we couldn’t think about that and we just had to make the zoo survive, somehow. And now it feels incredible to think how far we have come since our early struggles.
“Being recognized as a finalist in the Sunshine Coast Business Awards was very emotional for our team,” said Julie.
“It just further validated our hard work and achievement of not only moving and saving the zoo but turning it into a very successful and popular visitor destination on the coast.
“It was a challenging yet rewarding application process and I think sometimes we underestimate the power of the incredible story behind our zoo. One of the judges said our survival story gave her goosebumps. It felt so incredible to see our story and what we have achieved with our zoo have such an impact on these people.
“We have so much community support and it feels like this is our greatest strength.
“The locals of the Sunshine Coast are behind us and have been supporting us and we owe them so much thanks for helping us make our dream come true.”
Expansion, night safaris on the cards
And now the zoo’s future is looking very exciting. “We are looking at taking on more land at the Big Pineapple and expanding our animal collection,” said Jarrod.
“Our current footprint is nearly full, we need more space for more animals and we have big plans to expand.
“We are even considering a night-type safari, where visitors can come on a guided tour and see our zoo animals by night.”
•. Wildlife HQ is open 9am-4pm Monday-Sunday, last entry 3pm, Adults $39; Children ( 3 to 15) $25; Seniors $32; Family $109.