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Reptiles in the Australian National Botanic Gardens


The last weekend of the “Snakes Alive” exhibition in Australian National Botanic Gardens in the capital Canberra marked the approaching start to the school year. Lots of parents and children took advantage of the weekend to view live displays of snakes, lizards, turtles, frogs and crocodiles.
The reptiles on display included a percentile goanna (the largest lizard species in Australia), a baby crocodile, a pig nose turtle, a death adder, pythons, frilled neck dragon lizards, and blue tongued lizards. The exhibition was in the Crosbie Morrison Building set among the trees, shrubs and flowers of the botanic gardens.

In 1933 Canberra was known as A City of Flowers, but it did not have a botanic garden. In September 1935 Dr. Dickson, the Chief of Plant Industry, presented a report recommending the present site on the lower slopes of Black Mountain, but no action was to take place for another ten years, until after the war. In 1944 a research forester from South Australia, Lindsay Pryor, was appointed Superintendent of Parks and Gardens for Canberra and commenced planting a range of eucalypt trees.

Extensive contour ploughing was undertaken for water conservation. These contours later formed the basis for the paths in the lower parts of the Gardens. The 1960s saw the major development of the Gardens as they are today, with an emphasis on field collecting with major trips of several months duration as far afield as Western Australia to ensure that the collection was truly 'national' in character. In 1967 the Gardens were open to the public for the first time and in October 1970 the Gardens were officially opened by the Prime Minister, John Gorton.


During 1970 a misting system was installed in a dry gully, and the careful selection of plants, along with the artificially increased humidity, saw the development of the Rainforest Gully as one of the Gardens major attractions. This was a significant horticultural achievement as well as raising public awareness about rainforests. In 1978 the name was changed from Canberra Botanic Gardens to National Botanic Gardens in recognition of the national role of the institution.

In 1980 an amphitheatre was built in the Gardens which became a popular venue for public functions and concerts, and later for weddings. The pie-van that had operated for a couple of years was replaced by a café next to the Tasmanian section of the Rainforest Gully. This Café, now operated by Hudson's, has proved a popular eating place for the last nineteen years. Greater access was provided for visitors to the Rainforest Gully with board-walks constructed using government job creation schemes in 1983 and 1989. In December 1989 the Gardens were nominated for National Estate listing.







MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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