Perth Zoo sits across the Swan River from the CBD in South Perth, reachable by a short ferry trip from Barrack Street Jetty or Elizabeth Quay — which is itself one of the nicest ways to arrive at any zoo anywhere. The zoo was established in 1898 and remains compact by international standards, which is mostly an advantage: you can see everything properly in a day without zoo-fatigue setting in. The layout is pleasant, with good shade trees and well-designed enclosures, and it draws a genuine mix of families, school groups, and adults who have come specifically to see the animals rather than just to take the children somewhere.
The Australian Walkabout section is the highlight, with free-roaming kangaroos you can walk among, numbats, bilbies, and other native species that most people never get to see up close. The zoo also has a successful breeding program for orangutans — the South-East Asian rainforest section houses a family group — and African savannah species including rhinos and giraffes. The reptile house is one of the more impressive in Australia given the richness of WA's reptile fauna. Coming by ferry rather than car makes the whole visit feel more like an outing than an errand, and the ferry runs back to the city every half-hour through the day.