Cairns Tropical Zoo was a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

Cairns, Queensland Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after Sir William Welling ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It had a small collection of native and

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

, and was a member of the

Zoo and Aquarium Association The Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) Australasia was established in 1991. Its vision is to create "Positive Outcomes for Wildlife and People." The organisation operates throughout the Australasia region (Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Gui ...

. It was owned by the Freeman family. The zoo opened in 1980 in a tranquil bushland area and grew to have the largest collection of animals in Far North Queensland. By 2015, the site was surrounded by suburbs and the zoo became a nuisance to local residents. The zoo closed on 31 March 2016 with the land sold to a local developer. Many of the animals were relocated to other zoos and wildlife parks also operated by the Freeman family, including Hartley's Crocodile Adventures, Kuranda Koala Gardens and Birdworld Kuranda with $2 million being spent on creating new exhibits.

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1980 establishments in Australia Zoos established in 1980 Zoos in Queensland Parks in Queensland Tourist attractions in Cairns Buildings and structures in Cairns 2016 disestablishments in Australia {{zoo-stub