Breeding programs
Captive breeding programs began in 1981
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| Healesville Sanctuary, 2012 Photo: D. Lustig |
As of 2025, five institutions are breeding OBPs:
- Department of Natural Resources & Environment Tasmania's Five Mile Beach (known as "Five Mile Beach"), a Tasmanian government-funded breeding facility near Hobart
- Moonlit Sanctuary, a private zoo and wildlife park in Pearcedale, Victoria
- Healesville Sanctuary, part of Zoos Victoria
- Priam Psittaculture Centre, private parrot breeding and research institution, New South Wales
- Adelaide Zoo, South Australia
Additional institutions holding OBPs for display:
- Symbio Wildlife Park, southern Sydney, New South Wales
- Rainforestation Nature Park, Kuranda, Queensland
- Melbourne Zoo, Parkville, Victoria
- Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Brisbane, Queensland
- Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Gold Coast, Queensland
- Werribee Open Range Zoo, part of Zoos Victoria, Werribee, Victoria
- Tasmania Zoo, Launceston, Tasmania
- Halls Gap Zoo, western Victoria
- Billabong Zoo Koala & Wildlife Park, Port Macquarie, New South Wales
- Hobart Zoo & Aquarium, Tasmania
- just announced - Cleland Wildlife Park, Cleland, South Australia
In 2022, it was reported that Five Mile Beach in Tasmania can house up to 48 breeding pairs and that Moonlit Sanctuary can house up to 20 breeding pairs each season.
At Moonlit Sanctuary, in August, breeding aviaries are cleaned out and re-perched. New nest boxes are built and installed.
Unrelated birds are paired up at the start of September based on the need to maintain genetic diversity within the captive population.
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| Juvenile OBPs at Moonlit Sanctuary. Photo: Brodie Zealand |
Eggs are typically laid from the end of October through to December. Chicks hatch after 21 days and fledge after another five weeks.
Selected captive-bred fledglings are released at Melaleuca during late summer for the Juvenile Release program.
Volunteers supporting the program
Volunteers at Five Mile Beach assist with a variety of tasks:
- helping prepare OBP food (chopping fruit and vegetables)
- cleaning aviaries, collecting eucalypt branches and growing food plants
- tasks to ensure a happy and healthy aviary environment
At Moonlit Sanctuary, volunteers help with tasks including adding fresh eucalypt branches to the display aviary providing enrichment and roosting places for the OBPs.
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| OBP at Healesville Sanctuary, 2012 Photo: D. Lustig |
All information is from Friends of the OBPs' 2022 calendar.
Current breeding and display institution lists courtesy the OBP National Recovery Team's coordinator, Ms K Duncan.
