The Grants Pass Crocodile Rescue

Dear Steve, Terri, Bindi, and little Bob,

Thanks again for making the Crocodile Rescue a huge success. Terri, you put in a very long day meeting some of the people of Grants Pass. We did worry that you might be a little hungry and tired as the day wore on. We hope your trip to Sunriver was relaxing and fun.

Sandra and Stephanie shared with us how delighted they were with their tour of your Zoo. I was personally thrilled when they won, because I was Stephanie’s 1st grade teacher and knew how much it would mean to her and her mother.

Brady and I were so impressed with how well Bindi coped with a very long hot day waiting for her Mommy, that we wanted to do something just for her and her little brother. She was such a little trooper. When Terri went to nurse Bob, she stepped right in and held her Mom's spot and continued to autograph pictures and crocodiles.

Not every young child would be so willing to participate in this manner. She never once acted as if she would rather be some place else.

What a great little girl you are raising. Even little Bob didn't fuss much when he was hungry. As new grandparents, we know this isn't always the norm.

We wish you continued success with your television program and the Zoo. You are very special people who are making a positive difference in our world.

Sincerely,

Pat and Brady, Oregon, U.S.A

'Gold Star' Service

15/05/2005

Hi Terri, Steve and Crew,

We just wanted to say thank you for your fantastic hospitality. We spent last Friday at your amazing Zoo. Wow… What a day!

Congratulations on all your hard work in building such a beautiful facility – it was a learning experience for all of us. We really enjoyed every aspect of the day, from feeding the elephants as we arrived to watching the launch of all the great new quarantine ads, to the snake, tiger, bird and crocodile show and then walking through the other displays, exhibits and enclosures. There was so much to see and do; it was a very full day for us. I have to say, though, that the highlight of my daughter Clair's day was saying hello to you Terri and having her photo taken. You made my very special girl very happy – thank you.

We had family visiting from down south, so chose to go to the Zoo with them. They had been on the Gold Coast for a couple of days, visiting a couple of theme parks down there, but they were most impressed with your Zoo. They kept commenting on how clean it was, how friendly the staff were, how easy it was to get around and that it was the best value for money of all the theme parks they had visited. I feel like I want to give you all a 'gold star' – ha ha!

I hope I haven't raved on too much, but I just want you to know what a great day we all had – thanks again.
Fond Regards,

Bev and Clair Lawnton, QLD

Thankyou for a great day!

17/05/2005

Dear Steve, Terri and all the staff,

Our son Nicholas was diagnosed before Christmas with a rare benign tumor over his right hip and is currently being treated.

We wanted to express our gratitude for the day of fun you provided us with Mix FM. Your park is an absolute joy to visit and we had such an amazing time!

Thank you for bringing a smile to our little boy and a relaxing day for the rest of our family.
Yours Sincerely,

Ruth and Scott Noosaville, QLD

Possum Kisses

Dear Jasmin, Kathy and Karma,

Thank you for letting me feed Karma. Thank you for letting me play with Karma the possum and for the lovely photos Kathy took.

I liked Karma because she is cute and cuddly wuddly. I loved how she took the food out of my hand and sat on my shoulder to eat her grape.

What I loved the most were her possum kisses when she licked my face. Thank you Jasmin, Kathy and Karma for all the things I learnt about possums when I did my possum encounter on the 24th April 2005.

From Shane

The Thrill of a Tiger Walk

20/06/2005

On Saturday 18th June we experienced the thrill of a 'tiger walk'... What a truly wonderful experience. We were greeted at the entrance by your photographer Liz who took us to meet 'Khan', Che, Robbie and Shane. Your staff are exceptional people, obviously chosen for their personalities. They are a credit to your organisation – warm, sincere and professional. We have been so enthralled by our experience that we have now booked for a 'cheetah walk' in July.

Sincerely,
Neil, Pat and Ros Maleny, QLD

Amazingly clean!

29/07/2005

Hi,

Our family visited the Australia Zoo for the first time yesterday, taking advantage of the kids' vouchers from the Sunday Mail for Bindi's birthday (happy birthday Bindi!).

I'd like to thank you for a fabulous day! We really enjoyed the open atmosphere and diversity of attractions. The availability of places to sit and watch the animals was great, as was the range of activities for all the children of various ages (ours are 10, eight, five and three). But most of all, I have to comment on the cleanliness of the entire facility: toilets, grounds, animal enclosures, stands... everything! I was absolutely amazed and relieved to find clean toilets throughout the entire day – since the kids need to go about 72 times each at regular intervals. At one stage we visited toilets at the Crocoseum after the show which were out of toilet paper, but not for long, as there was a cleaning crew tossing in rolls of toilets paper and waiting outside to clean out the facilities. Also, all the staff were very helpful, happy and seemed to enjoy their jobs.

Thanks for a great day!

Sharon

Postcard from New Zealand

Dear Australia Zoo,

Thumbs up to you! After a wonderful day at Australia Zoo we lost our camera. You found it and sent it back! We're rapt with your wonderful customer service and we're telling all our friends. Australia Zoo was THE highlight of our trip to Queensland. I hope your generosity comes back to you tenfold.

Thanks for sending the camera back! The crocodiles were GREAT!

From Sonny, Lisa, Harry (10yrs) and Mary-Jane (9yrs).

Second visit in 12 months!

CRIKEY! G'day everyone, We have just finished our holidays in Queensland where we visited Australia Zoo again – second time in 12 months. We had a great time and got some great photos taken. We won't be back for awhile as we are expecting our second child around April. I've sent a picture of us with the snake. Thanks to everybody at Australia Zoo for a great day!

Cheers, Brendan, Clancy and Taylah

P.S. CROCS RULE!

Thank you from Radio Lollipop!

Dear Linda, BW and Australia Zoo,

Mater Children’s Hospital’s Radio Lollipop would like to thank you kindly for your recent visit to our studios. We all had a ball, as I am sure you could tell.

BW Croc was a hit, and we deeply appreciate your commitment to Radio Lollipop. We hope to see you again soon!

Warmest wishes, Dip & Radio Lollipop

A Zoo Full of Exceptional Staff

24 January 2006

Dear Steve, Terri, Bindi and Bob,

After yet another fantastic day visiting Australia Zoo I feel compelled to write and let you know what a fantastic place you have! Not only as a tourist destination, more importantly as a first class home for your animals.

I have visited your Zoo since its early days, watching it grow and delighting in the new residents!

My partner and I were lucky enough to experience an up-close and personal visit with your Bengal Tiger cubs when they were just 10 weeks old, and have recently adopted Khan.

We have a beautiful little boy, Michael, who is 20 months old and he had his first visit to Australia Zoo last Saturday. It made our visit all the more special watching him pat the kangaroos, chat to the alligators, chase the birds in the sanctuary (sorry about that!) and growl at the cheetahs. I don’t think the cheetahs were shaking in their huge, dog-like paws!

We are now annual pass holders and hope to visit your Zoo as often as we can so Michael can learn more and more about animals. Thank you so much for providing such an amazing place for children and adults alike to come and delight in such a unique experience. We are even planning to have Michael’s second birthday party at Australia Zoo in April!

Thank you also to your attentive staff, it’s a rare thing to find one exceptional staff member – you have a Zoo full of them! Their excitement and joy in what they do is contagious. It’s really like visiting friends. You can ask as many questions as you like, your staff are always happy (and I mean happy!) to stay and answer.

Special thanks also to Terri who took the time to stop and chat with us and allowed me to take a photo of our boys together. That is a moment I will cherish always!

Bob and Bindi sure do have the best backyard ever!

Thanks for all your hard work and we hope to see you around the Zoo again soon!

Kindest Regards,

Aly.

A letter from Shane's mum

Dear Steve, Terri, Bindi, Robert and the Australia Zoo Crew,

I would like to thank you and congratulate you on the wonderful job all your staff do in assisting people with disabilities when they visit your Zoo. My son has an intellectual impairment that is ascertained level five in the school system; this means he needs a fairly modified program as compared to mainstream students. Shane is a pleasant, friendly child but he has a tendency to ask a lot of questions and doesn't recognise social boundaries very well.

We first visited the Zoo in January 2004 and had the most amazing day. Not only was the Zoo beautiful and the animals amazing, but the staff were so good with and to Shane. They would all answer his questions where possible and made him feel very comfortable and welcome at the Zoo with no indication he was annoying them at all. On our second visit at the end of 2004 I found out about the annual passes and was able to give Shane his pass for Christmas. We have now been to the Zoo at least once every month this year apart from May when Shane got very ill a couple of days before we were due to visit. We have been to the Zoo 16 times since 10 January 2005, including both Bindi and Robert's birthday and he still gets so excited that he has trouble sleeping the night before we visit. During these visits he has been able to have encounters with the dingoes, Karma the possum twice, the wombats and the koala hospital, as well as Zoo Keeper for a Day for the fourth time these holidays, and is booked in again in the new year. One of the things I like about all these encounters is that I am able to accompany him as a supervision adult, allowing me to help him get the most out of his experience at the Zoo. After his second visit to the Zoo, Shane decided to sponsor an animal using a third of his pocket money each week ($2.00), allowing him to sponsor first the dingoes and then the otters this year with $50 each. He is so proud of this and has their photos on his wall where he can see them each morning.

With each visit to the Zoo his confidence in himself and determination to one day become a zoo keeper grows. Communication was one of his major areas of difficulty, with his ability to be part of a conversation very limited. He had a set list of questions that he would ask, like – where's your mother? Where's your father? Where's your house? Do you have any pets? These questions were a way of being able to talk to people about things he knew, but they made conversations very difficult for both him and those he was speaking to. Over the last 12 months I have seen these questions slowly disappear and new skills emerge, mainly I believe due to his interest in the animals and his need to ask sensible and more detailed questions to learn about them. His teachers are so happy with the advances he has made this year and the difference the Zoo has made, that they are very willing for him to take an occasional day off school if we are visiting the Zoo.

I have no idea what the future now holds for Shane, but it is my belief that even if he never achieves his goal of working at the Zoo he will be so much better off than he would have had we not visited you. I am able to use the Zoo to give him concrete reasons and examples of almost anything I need him to learn or understand. We have been using his Steve and Terri Irwin calendar as a reward system, with him achieving an animal stamp as a reward.

I hope this letter has given you some idea of the impact your staff have made in his life, not only for the day we visit but for his future. It is amazing to see his face come alive when he spots a zoo keeper that he knows and the interest they all show in him. Shane has several favourites at the Zoo and the number of his friends grows every time we visit.

I would like to express my personal thanks to the hard work and kindness of several staff members including Nick, Denise and Emma (Education Department), all the staff at the Kids Zoo; he especially loves the piglets and feeds as many animals as possible when we are there. Ben, Kathy, Deb and Ryan in photography, Deb and Leah in the Exotic Mammals Department, Steve's Safari Shuttle crew, the Wandering Wildlife team, especially Sandi and Jasmin, Michael and Luke from the Cleaning Department, Karen and Claire from Information and every other keeper that has had the patience and kindness to teach Shane all the amazing things he now knows about the animals and the social skills he has developed through his interaction with you. An example of his new knowledge and confidence happened when we visited for Robert's birthday. Shane was able to stand his ground and tell me that Komodo Dragons had forked tongues for tasting the air; I took a lot of convincing but was unable to dissuade him. Not only was he right, but he had the confidence to argue with me about it, which is a whole new skill he has learnt.

So once again I would like to thank you and your staff for everything you have given Shane and myself. I feel that Australia Zoo is one of the few places Shane is accepted and appreciated the way he is and look forward to many more visits in the years to come.

Thanking you,

Mrs Debbie Grey Bundaberg, QLD

Australia Zoo is a breath of fresh air!

To the General Manager, Australia Zoo

Dear Sir,

It was our great pleasure to have visited Australia Zoo in December. We wanted to compliment Steve and Terri Irwin and your entire team on the wonderful experience we had. After visiting another Queensland theme park the previous day, and basically regretting the outing, we found Australia Zoo a breath of fresh air.

We were especially impressed with the amount of thought you have put into the comfort of your visitors. Even though it was an incredibly hot day, there were always options for us to escape the heat, and you weren't trying to make an extra buck out of it. We left with an education, a lovely memory and the desire to return again to see the next stage of Australia Zoo.

Thank you for restoring our faith and showing us that the people are important too, and it's not just about the dollar.

Yours sincerely,

Irene Dean-Jones Wahroonga, NSW

Queensland Hospitality

Dear Mr and Mrs Steve Irwin,

My wife and I recently had a pleasurable stay in Caloundra. We took the opportunity of visiting Australia Zoo. We were ‘knocked out' by the prices on offer and I include the entry fee, the goods and jewelry, the clothing, the knick-knacks, etc. The meals available were such that one could have a feed of chips and coffee, or one could eat up like King Farook at reasonable cost.

The entertainment was top class. The total staff are to be commended. Their typical Queensland happy attitudes and smiles made us feel welcome.

When we returned to our car we were welcomed by a flat battery. We reported our dilemma to a pretty young girl at the gate. I had my RACQ info ready. The girl said to me ‘you won't need that'. We will get you going. She got on the blower and within minutes a battery on wheels was on its way to our car. We were on our way in no time. Crikey, I call that bloody good Queensland hospitality.

You are a credit to Australia , and of course to Queensland.

Yours,

Bill Watson Regents Park , QLD

Linda and BW

Dear Linda and BW,

It was lovely to meet you both yesterday, thank you for allowing me to accompany you around the hospital. It was very touching to see how excited the children were to meet BW, and to see all the smiles on their faces.

Keep up your wonderful work; your visits make a significant difference to the spirit and morale of the precious little patients, during treatment and recovery.

Warm Regards,

Sandy Griffin

Royal Children's Hospital Foundation

Thanks for the fantastic prize pack!

Dear Steve Irwin and Tara,

Thank you so much for the fantastic prize pack I won in the Australia Zoo Valentine's Day celebrations! I was very excited to see the big package waiting outside my house when I got home from Kindy. Mummy and I weren't too sure if I won the colouring-in competition or the competition that was just inside the gates?

I am a huge Steve Irwin fan and Mummy and I are annual members of the Zoo and come down as much as we can. I especially like feeding the baby animals their bottles, looking at all the snakes and watching the shows in the Crocoseum.

I am having lots of fun with all my new things that were in the great prize pack! I love the board game but especially like watching the DVD and Mummy has been reading me the book. When I think no one is watching me I like to pretend to be Steve with my Australia Zoo hat and shirt on. I then wrestle my toy crocs, snakes and amazingly can repeat quite a lot of information I learn from the DVDs I have and the Crocoseum shows.

I will be turning four on the 9th of April and am going to be having a Steve Irwin Birthday Party; I can't wait!

I hope you like the photos of me with all my prize stuff and the drawings I've done of a croc and of Steve with a big snake around his neck. I'll keep my eye out on the website for my photo.

Thanks again,

Love Kye xo

Zoo Keeper for a Day

Dear Frank,

During the recent school holidays, on January 11 2006, my family visited Australia Zoo. My son Alex participated in the Zoo Keeper for a Day program, conducted by the education team. My youngest son and I enjoyed the sights of the Zoo, whilst Alex was at "work".

I felt I needed to write and congratulate Australia Zoo, and particularly the educational team of Nick and Emma, for a fantastic day enjoyed by us all.

This was not our first encounter with Nick and Emma, as last year it was arranged for Alex to speak with some zoo keepers as part of a school science project. Emma organised specific times to meet with some keepers during our visit, and it was a great learning experience for Alex.

Alex has participated in junior zoo keeper programs before at other zoos, and his recent experience at Australia Zoo is still the topic of many conversations. He has been reptile-obsessed for many years now, and has decided to be a herpetologist zoo keeper – motivated by Steve and Wes, and Australia Zoo. His zoo keeper experience has reinforced his passion – from feeding the tortoises, to the behind-the-scenes of the Fruit Room, to the photo with the alligator. He still cannot believe that he was fortunate enough to see Steve, Wes and Terri in action at the Crocoseum that day – they are his heroes!

From a parent's perspective, I was impressed with the duration and value for money of the program, the nutritious lunch provided (certainly better than a hot dog, soft drink and an ice block offered with other programs). The activities during the day (as reported by Alex), were stimulating, and kept the children motivated. Your staff throughout the Zoo were always friendly, helpful and smiling – it was obvious that they enjoyed being there just as much as we did, despite it being an incredibly hot and humid day. The continual improvements in the Zoo are unbelievable, even though it's been less than six months since our last visit. It just gets better and better.

Again, I thank Australia Zoo and the education team. I realise that there is a great deal of planning and preparation involved in programs such as these, and you have done it well. It may seem that it's “just part of your job”, but our visit was a fantastic one, and Alex's experiences he had that day have just reinforced his passion and drive to become a zoo keeper. He wanted to come back the next week and do it all again!

Yours sincerely,

Michelle Johnston

Thanks for the prizes

Hi! It was a total surprise to come home from school today to find a huge box addressed to me.

Our family had an incredible day at your Zoo on Easter Monday and this prize has just capped off a great week. You really have a great place there.

I have attached a photo of me after I unpacked your box of cool prizes Thanks again!

Cheers, Sean

Continued Joy...

Thanks so much to Australia Zoo, not only did my two girls (Paige and Sam), my partner (Nath) and I have a wonderful day when visiting Australia Zoo, the joy continued when we returned home, with the wonderful photos we have of our holiday and then receiving the package from Australia Zoo for Paige after winning the Halloween competition.

It gives me great joy to see the happiness on her face in these photos and the ones we have of our day at Australia Zoo.

Thanks again,

Teneale Jordan
(Paige’s mum!)

To Australia Zoo people,

It’s Paige here, I won the Australia Zoo Halloween competition. I received the package on Monday and mum rang me to let me know I had won and that she had a box of Australia Zoo stuff; I was so happy. I love all the new things I won. I use my Steve Irwin glass every night and I sleep with Khan after I give him a bottle. Did you know my birthday is on the same day as Bindi’s? 24 July 1998.

We all loved Australia Zoo. We fed the elephants and Nath (my step-dad), Sam (my sister) and I all touched a snake while we were there. I was wondering if Ben ever got his pigeons back after he lost them? Sam (my sister) and I would love to work at Australia Zoo on day. It’s a great place.

Thanks for my stuff. Here’s a photo of me with Chloe the koala at Australia Zoo on Halloween.

Love Paige
Xxoo xxoo xxoo xxoo xxoo

Visit Australia Zoo

Visit Australia Zoo

If you like to seek an adventure or two.
Then visit with us at Australia Zoo.
This place promoted by a bloke we did know
"Crikey" was a word he would use at every show.

Steve Irwin of course was the courier
Who encouraged all to become a Wildlife Warrior
The animals living here are well fed and content
In homes so cared and pampered, would befit a President.

His home he made into a paradise inviting all to come
Just up the road from Brisbane, really a nice short run
His favourite creature featured here is the crocodile
Many collected to put on show for quite a while.

His Mum and Dad had taught him well for they too had a part
In educating Steve their little boy from an early start
For even as a young lad, he too heard the cry of animals in the wild
Training his two children also, due respect for these from a little child.

Sadly in two thousand and six this king, an accident did meet
During an adventure he was filming to show men on the street.
Struck down he was, in the prime of his short life
His work is now continued by his daughter and his wife.

Now recognised as a famous man who lived on our Sunshine Coast
Steve fought for Beerwah to be included, this place he loved the most
So come and see his memorial works, bring along a friend or two
We know you will enjoy your stay when you visit Australia Zoo.

Max George 2008