When I was passing through Brisbane in January 2009 my friend Pat was on holidays and it was her daughter Lynda's birthday so we decided to do some tourist things and, as I had not been to Australia Zoo, we decided to make a day of it. The facilities at the zoo were very good, they had a train that went around and around so you could hop on and off save walking and they also had scooters for hire. There were loads of staff to help you find your way around and also to take care of the animals, I have never seen so many at a zoo before. I do know they had to put some staff members off because of the recession but I doubt the animals will suffer because of it they were all very well cared for. I felt sorry for the Camel though, she was on her own and I think she should have had a friend. They do not always have all the animals on display, they rotate them so that some get a rest from the public which is a good thing but I dont think they had a spare camel out the back.
If staff were walking around with animals or birds they would stop and let you touch them and tell you about the animals too. I stopped a snake lady. They have shows in the crocoseum all day long and this includes crocodile shows done by Terri Irwin and Wes and on the day we were there young Bob and Bindi were included in the show too.
The birds can be walked amongst in their habitat but there is also a bird show which comes to you. If you are in the crocoseum suddenly there are birds everywhere and some are trained to sit on rails and let you look at them, then they fly off so another can take its place. Didn't get pooped upon so, in my opinion, it was a good show.
The Zoo is north of Brisbane and well worth a visit if you like critters.