26 September 2023

Lone Pine to make friends with tourists

Start the conversation

An expansion of Brisbane’s Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary will cover 15,000 square metres of space including a Wild Walk experience and a 581-metre boardwalk through eucalyptus and bushland.

Launching the start of work on the project, Minister for Tourism, Stirling Hinchliffe said that, since opening in 1927, the Sanctuary had been a favourite with domestic and international visitors, as well as generations of South-East Queensland families.

“The Wild Walk experience will take visitor enchantment to an entirely new level,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

“Lone Pine has a load of quokkas going through biosecurity clearances to join the family here, which already includes world-famous koalas, tree kangaroos, wombats, echidnas, Tasmanian devils, bettongs and potoroos.”

The Minister said that, for the first time, night tours would fit-out visitors with thermal imaging scanners to show nocturnal animals in their habitat without the intrusion of flashlights.

“The thermal imaging scanners will automatically upload images for tourists to take home as a lasting reminder of their night-time visit,” he said.

“Before the pandemic, 70 per cent of the Sanctuary’s 500,000 annual guests were from overseas or interstate.

“By being ready with fresh visitor experiences when it’s safe to reopen the international border, Lone Pine is an excellent example of rebuilding tourism better.”

Mr Hinchliffe said the Sanctuary’s expansion was expected to be completed mid-next year, weather permitting.

Start the conversation

Be among the first to get all the Public Sector and Defence news and views that matter.

Subscribe now and receive the latest news, delivered free to your inbox.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.