Since buying his first python when he was ten years old, animal enthusiast Greg Parker had amassed a collection of over 300 reptiles across 50 species. He even got a job at Healesville Sanctuary in the late 1970s. After a year of planning, Parker bought 10 hectares (0.10 km²) of land in Ballarat, Victoria,^[1] where he opened the Ballarat Wildlife Park in February 1985.^[2] He incorporated his reptile collection into the wildlife park,^[1] while also branching out into mammals. Parker co-owns the park with his wife, Julia Leonard,^[3][4] and manages it with his family and a small team of permanent staff.^[1]

Certified by the Zoo and Aquarium Association, the 10-hectare Ballarat Wildlife Park is home to around 300 animals and 40 species.^[1][3] It is located on the corner of York and Fussell Streets, in Ballarat East.^[5] All of the Australian mammals breed each year, and the establishment also breeds its reptiles. The park contains many different exhibits and a cafe. It holds wildlife education talks and "meet-and-greets" with some of the animals can be booked;^[3][6] strict guidelines and time limits on handling the animals are in place.^[3]

The Ballarat Wildlife Park holds a number of Australian animals.^[5] It is home to the largest colony of koalas in captivity in Victoria,^[7] which has around 35 members.^[8] It has contributed to a number of koala conservation campaigns,^[9][10] including fundraisers for planting eucalyptus trees.^[7][11] Visitors can feed the over 100 free-roaming kangaroos by purchasing kangaroo feed.^[3][8] There are wombats, emus,^[8] cassowaries, quokkas,^[5] and special enclosures for endangered Australian animals such as Tasmanian devils. It was the first privately-owned park to breed Tasmanian devils on the mainland. The dingoes have their own large enclosure.^[3]

The park also contains animals not native to Australia. There are six meerkats.^[6] There is a colony of little penguins. The reptile house holds snakes, lizards and frogs.^[2] The park also has a Komodo dragon.^[5] It has a special enclosure for the tree-kangaroos.^[3]

Crunch is a five-metre-long saltwater crocodile which arrived at the park in December 2013.^[1] Originally captured from the Lockhart River, he and a female crocodile named Bella were brought to the park as a replacement for Gator, his deceased predecessor.^[12][13]

Patrick the Wombat edit

The Ballarat Wildlife Park was once well known for housing the common wombat Patrick, who holds the record for the oldest known common wombat in captivity.^[14][15] Nicknamed "Paddy Cake",^[16] he was also the heaviest known wombat; he weighed 84 pounds (38 kg) when he was 29 years old.^[17]

In 1989, an injured Patrick was taken from the pouch of his dying mother, who had been hit by a car. He lacked the typical aggression of wombats.^[18] Attempts to release him into the wild only resulted in him being attacked by wild wombats,^[19] and so the wildlife park instead acquired a permit to house him. He became one of Ballarat's most popular attractions,^[18] riding around in a wheelbarrow when his enclosure was being cleaned.^[20][21]

In 2013, Patrick became popular online through a Reddit post. He amassed over 55,000 Facebook followers and got his own website. In 2014, CNN's Rachel Barth named him the third-greatest city mascot in the world, writing that he has been visited by celebrities such as Nicolas Cage, Kirstie Alley and Kim Cattrall. He also visited Parliament House.^{[18][22][23][24]} Patrick received further media attention after the park created a promotional Tinder account for him.^[25][26][27] Patrick died on 18 April 2017, aged at least 30 years and 200 days,^[28] euthanized after a sudden decline in health.^[29] He died a virgin.^[30][31][32] He was listed in Guinness World Records as the "Oldest marsupial in captivity ever".^[28]

• Official website