Australia Zoo was opened by Bob and Lyn Irwin on 3 June 1970 under the name Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park.

Their son Steve had helped his parents since childhood to care for crocodiles and reptiles and to maintain the growing number of animals in the zoo.

[6] Visitors will see a wide variety of birds, mammals, and reptiles, and can view crocodile feedings, and have hands-on animal encounters.

Australia Zoo was opened by Bob and Lyn Irwin on 3 June 1970 under the name Beerwah Reptile Park.

Bob is a world-renowned herpetologist, who is regarded as a pioneer in the keeping and breeding of reptiles, while Lyn was one of the first to care for and rehabilitate sick and injured wildlife in southeast Queensland.

[3][7] Bob and Lyn passed on their love and respect for wildlife to their three children: Joy, Steve, and Mandy.

Steve had helped Bob and Lyn since childhood to care for crocodiles and reptiles and to maintain the growing number of animals in the zoo.

The facility had a single operating room, and with a staff of 20 full-time workers and 80 volunteers, it cared for up to 6,000 animals per year.

The swap permitted the development of an open-range safari attraction, allowing the zoo to expand to a world-class standard.

[11][12] On 15 March 2008 the Brisbane-based newspaper, The Sunday Mail, claimed there are plans to sell Australia Zoo to Animal Planet and create a $100-million Disney-style wildlife theme park.

Despite rumours that she intended to return to the United States, Terri denied the claims and became an Australian citizen on 20 November 2009.

On 17 September 2011, the zoo opened its African Safari exhibit, a multi-species replica of the Serengeti ecosystem, showcasing giraffes, plains zebra and southern white rhinos' interacting as they would in the wild.

Opened beside the Africa exhibit in December 2014 and named after Steve's daughter, Bindi's Island is a three-story "treehouse" built around a replica fig tree.

To get around the zoo, visitors can take Steve's Safari Shuttle, a 'modified trailered bus' that operates on a bitumen (asphalt) roadway circuit.

[22] This effort is now supported by the 1,300-square-metre (14,000 sq ft) Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital next to the zoo, which can care for up to 10,000 animals per year, with two operating theatres, two treatment rooms, intensive care units for mammals, birds, and reptiles, and an X-ray room, and was designed by WD Architects.

It is located on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, and contains spring fed wetlands that provide a water source to threatened habitat and the Wenlock River.

[23] Australia Zoo purchased the 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) Iron Bark Station located at Blackbutt, Queensland in 1994.

It is a place where endangered species can reestablish populations, and as of 2015, Terri purchased an additional 33,000 acres of land to expand this conservation habitat.