About Gan-Garoo

So what’s at Gan-Garoo?

Gan-Garoo extends across an area of approximately four acres. The zoo’s grounds are shaded and pleasant to explore.

Visitors may sit down on benches or at tables or enjoy a picnic on green lawns.

Average time of a visit to Gan-Garoo:

between 1-1/2 and 4 hours, depending on the ages of children.

The park’s koala compound was built in 2002 in memory of the four members of the Australian delegation to the Maccabiah Games
who died in the bridge accident (July 7, 1997) – Warren Zines, Yetty Bennett, Elizabeth Sawicki, and Greg Small.

At the Gan-Garoo gift shop you may purchase unique souvenirs from Australia – didgeridoo, boomerang, Emu eggs and furry Australian animal dolls.

There’s plenty of parking available in the adjoining parking lot.

Gan-Garoo is wheelchair accessible and is recommended by the Mapa website.

How was Gan-Garoo established?

In the beginning of the 1990s, Kibbutz Nir David decided to establish a tourist attraction on the kibbutz’s grounds, adjacent to Gan Hashlosha (Sachne) National Park. Numerous ideas were proposed until finally, the decision was made to establish a unique zoo. After a great deal of thought, it was decided to build an Australian zoo.

In checking the feasibility of the plan we discovered two things:

1. That Australian animals are strange and very uniqe.

2. That Australian authorities are not eager to export animals from their country and that they impose extremely strict conditions upon any party who wishes to do so.

Yehuda Gat, Gan-Garoo’s founder, established relations with the Australian National Parks Authority, the Australian ambassador in Israel and a number of zoos in Austrlia. For our part, we undertook to establish a park of the highest possible quality and dedicate it to the flora and fauna of the ‘fifth continent’ – the wondrous country of Australia.

On July 28, 1996, an inauguration ceremony was held at the Park

and attended by the Australian ambassador as well as many other notable figures.

Gan-Garoo holds an operator’s license issued by the Australian National Parks Authority and a proud member of the Israely Zoo Association and World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

Since the opening of the park, we have been consistently developing and upgrading the zoo with additional animals and attractions:
For example we planted a giant green maze which is now turned into a special attraction inside the park – Gan Goo-Yura (jurrasic) – Dinosaur Maze. Alongside it, are additional logic and challenging mazes. And in an operation lasting several years, we imported four koalas and additional Australian birds…

Gan-Garoo is a success story that is held in high esteem by the Australians.
We became the first zoo in the world (outside of Australia) in which visitors can actually pet a kangaroo.
We are one of the few zoos in the world that has succeeded in satisfying the strict conditions set by Australian authorities in order to receive koalas!

In February 2018, Milo, the last kuala in Israel, passed away at a ripe old age. For more than six years, the Gan Guru team has been trying to bring in additional koalas from zoos in Australia. But is currently unsuccessful. The intention is to import Koala only as part of conservation programs and in coordination with the Australian authorities and therefore the task is lengthening.

We work ceaselessly to develop Gan-Garoo – for the enjoyment of our visitors.