Beaumaris Zoo

Curator: Arthur Reid (1923)

Where the Wild Once Lived

Step into the remnants of a place where some of Tasmania’s most extraordinary – and exotic – animals once lived.

Wander among the surviving enclosures of the former Beaumaris Zoo and uncover the stories held within this little-known corner of Hobart’s history. Once home to lions, tigers, leopards, elephants, monkeys and even polar bears, the zoo is perhaps best remembered as the final home of the last known captive thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger.

Captured in Tasmania’s Florentine Valley in 1933, the thylacine was brought to the Hobart Zoo, where it lived until its death on 7 September 1936. Just weeks earlier, the species had been given legal protection. The thylacine was later declared extinct in 1986.

Today, little remains of the zoo, but its old walls, enclosures and traces in the landscape offer clues to a fascinating chapter in Hobart’s past.

Come and have a look, explore what remains, and imagine the animals – and people – that once occupied this place.

Open: Sat 7 Nov, 10.00am – 4.00pm