Kings Run Wildlife Tours

Kings Run Wildlife Tours are based in the far North West of Tasmania, Australia and focus on interpretive tours of Geoff Kings 830 acre coastal property. (Approximately the same size as New York's Central Park)

The land has been used for cattle grazing from 1880. Recently Geoff decided that stock needed to be restricted from impacting on many of the sensitive areas in this fragile environment, allowing wildlife to take over and introducing low impact tours to view them. The western boundary is the Southern Ocean that pounds a rugged foreshore studded with quartzite outcrops and an abundance of shorebirds. Inland heath land and low eucalypt areas containing rare flora help to support a rich variety of birdlife including many of Tasmania's endemic species. The rare Orange Bellied parrot migrates through the property in autumn and spring.

The main feature of Kings Run is its nocturnal wildlife. The former pasture areas are now a marsupial lawn grazed by large numbers of wallaby as well as wombat and bandicoot. These animals in turn support healthy populations of the world's largest carnivorous marsupials, Tasmanian Devils and Spot Tail Quolls. With the co-operation of the Tasmanian Nature Conservation service Geoff has developed a method of viewing the Tasmanian devil in the wild. (His agreement with the Conservation Branch states that he only operates 5 nights per fortnight & not more than 3 nights in a row)

There are no roads on the property only sandy tracks; devils traverse these tracks during their nightly search for food. A scent trail is dragged along these sandy tracks to a rustic fisherman's hut to view the devils that generally arrive within a few hours of sunset. The devils extraordinary senses of smell & hearing do not detect the guests watching in candlelight through a window as the animals feed on a road kill  relocated from a local road. A devil restaurant as such where it's safe for them to eat! Feeding is strictly regulated with a limit on the amount of food and tour frequency to avoid habituating the animals. A soft outside light allows guests to see a range of devil behavior and a simple sound system brings the sometimes - raucous vocalizations inside the 'hide'.