Bunya Park Wildlife Sanctuary

Written 1988

Pine Rivers Shire abounds in many natural and man-made attractions. Combine the best of both and you have a facility that is destined to be a major drawcard. The Pine Rivers’ premiere attraction Bunya Park, annually draws many thousands of visitors to the Shire.

Bunya Park Wildlife Sanctuary is Australian-owned and its close proximity to Brisbane makes for an enormous tourist trade generated by the many national and international visitors who travel to the State capital each year. And that’s besides the thousands of local Queensland people who are drawn to the Park each year.

Spread over eight hectares of natural Australian native bushland, Bunya Park is home to one of the world’s largest breeding koala colonies as well as a fascinating variety of Australian wildlife including kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, reptiles and birds. The Sanctuary has a walk-through aviary, which is the delight of all bird lovers.

Bunya Park Wildlife Sanctuary is owned by the Koala Corporation Australia Ltd. Which has made many major improvements to the attraction, including installation of a new restaurant and souvenir complex built in timber along traditional Australian colonial lines.

The corporation is establishing a koala interpretive centre, rainforest habitat areas, a nature playground for children, and an underground viewing area of wombats. Also to be constructed, habitat walkways with viewing platforms will allow visitors to watch the animals in natural surroundings.

Bunya Park also offers families the added advantage of being able to while away hours in this idyllic setting through the provision of a pleasant barbeque and picnic area.

Bunya Park is open to the public seven days a week with the exception of Christmas Day. Access to the Sanctuary is as easy as turning off Gympie Road at Aspley onto Albany Creek Road and Following the signs.

Editors Note:
The land for this park was initially acquired by the Hogan family for the financial benefit of gravel extraction from the South Pine River.
The company Civic Lands created the suburb of Eatons Hill, that was part of the land lost by the Cash family and afterwards acquired by Eaton.
Eventually the lure of the dollar for subdivision outweighed the monies from land and gravel extraction.

In 1974, it was very hard to sell a vacant block at $4,000 and I spent countless fruitless weekends before the estate “took off”.
The Koalas have gone and the buildings around the lake remain as KUMBARTCHO.
Environmental Centre at Bunya Pine Court.

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