The Australian Reptile Park is gearing up to celebrate its 75th birthday during the September school holidays from September 23 to October 8.
The Park first opened in 1958 at Wyoming when naturalist Eric Worrell had the idea of combining snake venom production with tourism.
Worrell passed away in 1987, but his dream lived on in two passionate employees, John and Robyn Weigel, who financially invested in taking ownership of the Park and continue to run it today alongside fellow Directors Tim Faulkner and Liz Gabriel.
The Australian Reptile Park was a pioneer in the development of lifesaving antivenom which has helped tens-of-thousands of Australians survive venomous snake and funnel-web spider bites.
Prior to opening in the Wyoming location in 1958, Worrell opened the Ocean Beach Aquarium in 1949 at Umina Beach.
It was here, in 1951, that he first started supplying tiger snake venom to the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL) in Melbourne.
Taipan venom followed in 1952, followed later by venom from spiders such as the Sydney funnel-web and other Australian native snakes.
In 1996, the Australian Reptile Park relocated from Wyoming to Somersby, moving its 1,000 animals and 26m mascot Ploddy the dinosaur.
On July 17, 2000, a faulty electrical connection led to a devastating fire which consumed most of the main building with the future of the national tourism award winner thrown into doubt.
Nearly all of the many hundreds of reptiles, frogs and spiders that had been maintained in the building had died.
The option of not rebuilding was never considered, and within hours a makeshift command centre was established in the back of the Directors’ station wagon in the car park.
A day later, a relocatable office compound was set up within the Park grounds and plans were quickly advanced to get the Australian Reptile Park back on its feet.
There was an urgent need to somehow reinstate the Park’s venom production operations in order to avoid a life-threatening shortfall of antivenom supplies in hospitals Australia-wide.
The Wyoming Veterinary Clinic provided laboratory space and equipment in order to kick-start the funnel-web spider venom program.
The NSW State Government provided a modular building structure to facilitate the snake venom program and CSL Limited (now Seqiris) provided critical financial and logistical support.
Many trained people Australia-wide assisted in the collection of about 200 venomous snakes as required, and residents did what they could to provide the male funnel-web spiders required to restart the program.
A talented group of designers, sculptors, artists and tradespeople set about rebuilding the Park.
The ground-breaking Lost World of Reptiles bravely sought to do what possibly no zoo had done before – to provide an educational experience that was wrapped in adventure and fun.
Reconstruction of the main building began as soon as the rubble could be removed, and work on the Lost World of Reptiles was completed on schedule, in time for Christmas, five short months post-fire.
As a result, the Australian Reptile Park won the prestigious NSW Tourism Award in 2001 for Best Tourism Development.
The final stage of redevelopment would take more than a year to complete, breaking new ground in the way zoos exhibit wildlife, with a grand re-opening held on April 8, 2002.
To start the ultimate birthday celebrations this year, 2.5m-high animatronic dinosaurs will be on the loose, roaming throughout the Park all weekend from September 23-24.
Heading into the October long weekend, the ultimate birthday party will be held in celebration of the anniversary.
From Saturday, September 30, to Monday, October 2, each day will be filled with thrilling live shows, animal meet and greets with zookeepers, stilt walkers, free face painting and a massive jumping castle.
Park Director Tim Faulkner said the Park was out to make the coming school holidays at the Park the best ever.
“With action-packed shows, unveiling of a mini Ploddy, dinosaurs everywhere and celebrating 15 years of Elvis the crocodile, it’s all happening here at the Australian Reptile Park.
“These school holidays aren’t just for the kids to enjoy, but also the adults who have been coming to the Park since they were little.
“For many adults, the Australian Reptile Park brings back fond memories of getting up close and snapping a photo with Ploddy the dinosaur when we were located at Wyoming.
“I can imagine there won’t just be kids lining up to get a selfie with our miniature statue of Ploddy; there will surely be adults too.”
To end the birthday extravaganza with a bang, the last weekend of the school holidays will see the Park celebrating 15 years of Australia’s crankiest crocodile, Elvis.
Visitors will also be able to witness the 500kg beast in action during the Elvis the Crocodile Show every day at 1.30pm.
“It’s amazing to see how far this beautiful wildlife park has come,” Faulkner said.
“It’s grown exponentially over the years, and it brings me so much joy that we’ve been able to continue to share our love and passion for wildlife with visitors from all over the world for 75 years.”
Terry Collins