Marapana Wildlife Park

The Marapana Wildlife Park (originally called the Marapana Deer Park) was established in May 1981 and closed their doors on Friday 8 May 2011.

 

In early 2006, Marapana came co-managed under Wild New Management with Marapana owner Tim Mullany. Upon closing, they were intending to re-open as the West Coast Wildlife Park and West Coast Wildlife Rescue at a new location. No further information can be found on whether or not this was attempted. Many of their animals and reptiles was said to have been rehomed at Red’s Zoo & Conservation Park (formerly Peel Zoo).

 

Family-friendly petting zoo

Aside from being a family-friendly attraction, Marapana was a popular destination for tourists and school outings. Open from 10am to 5pm, every day of the week and 364 days of the year (excluding Christmas Day), you could even cuddle a koala and have your Totally Wild Birthday Party organised by the venue. Their range of animals included:

• Alpacas

• Camels

• Deer

• Emus

• Kangaroos

• Koalas

• Ostriches

• Wombats

• Farm animals

 

The property

The 15 acre property, located 35km from Perth, was originally sold to the Mullany family to establish the Marapana Wildlife Park, when the neighbour subdivided their land.

 

Some nine months after taking these photos in 2021, the owner had reached out to me to inform me that Marapana was NOT abandoned. Furthermore, he’d experienced extensive thefts of his bore pumps, electrical wiring as well as severe vandalising of what remains of the Marapana house. The only access to this property is via private property, which as a result of the theft and vandalising, is heavily monitored by CCTV cameras.

 

Freeway crash incident

At approximately 1am in October 2016, a motorcyclist riding on the Kwinana Freeway in Baldavis collided with a deer. The 31 year old man was in a serious but stable condition with a number of broken bones and the deer was killed (likely on impact). Cohuna Koala Park (also known as Cohuna Wildlife Park), located some 30kms from the crash scene, reported they weren’t missing any animals when asked, which led to the belief that the deer was previously from the Marapana Wildlife Park.

 

The future

Many rumours abound of its apparent sale to a sand mining company for $9 million, although it appears that it is the 42.62 hectare property surrounding the Marapana site, that was sold to Rocla Quarry Products Ltd, now Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd.

 

As of November 2023, the neighbouring land appears to be under the control of the City of Rockingham who have zoned it Urban Expansion as part of their Karnup District Structure Plan. The 23.67 hectare Marapana site itself was sold on 23 February 2023 for $1,350,00.