Canberra Reptile Zoo's collecting bottles to fundraise for crocodile

It's not exactly the sentence that you want to hear in an interview but, as Canberra Reptile Zoo owner and manager Peter Child says, it's just in Charlie's nature. He is a saltwater crocodile, after all.

Charlie is no stranger to Canberra Reptile Zoo visitors. For the past six years, he has been one of the first things people see when they enter the zoo.

But come summer, the 2.5-metre croc will no longer be the opening act to a Canberra Reptile Zoo visit. He will either be at home in a newly built enclosure at the Canberra Reptile Zoo or he will be heading north to a crocodile farm, where there is a chance he will be turned into a handbag because of his perfect skin.

This is because 18-year-old is expected to get up to five metres in length. To accommodate this, the zoo has started fundraising for the new, larger enclosure by making use of the ACT Container Deposit Scheme.

"The space that he's in now, already looks a bit tight for him and a lot of this has to do with public perception," Child says.

"We want people to come here and feel comfortable that our animals have room to move. When people ask us why he is in such a small space, we can explain that crocodiles don't use a lot of energy to move around.

"That space is acceptable for him but we can't talk to every single visitor who comes to the Canberra Reptile Zoo, so what we want to do is build something that future proofs our crocodiles so people feel more comfortable with the spaces in when they look at it."

Child says the idea came from his parents, Paula and Derek, who are the driving force behind the container returns.

The zoo hosts about 10 parties each weekend and the empty drink containers are collected from those, as well as collections made from the volunteers, staff and the public.

"This is the is the single largest project that we've undertaken in 21 years of being in business," Child says.

"Monetary wise, we've never dealt with something like this before. And as a not for profit organisation is extremely difficult to come up with additional funds to grow.

"We're always looking for ways to raise money specifically for Charlie, outside of the normal money we get from visitors, which goes to just the running of the park."

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One of the biggest hurdles for the new enclosure is that it has to be completely indoor. While other wildlife parks can build their crocodile ponds outdoors and heat them, because of Canberra's winter weather, that isn't an option.

"If it's under 20 degrees, Charlie can die. Even in Brisbane, they still have to heat the water for their crocodiles," Child says.

"But they can get away with that we can't do that in Canberra in winter, it would be impossible to keep the water warm enough.

"What we're building effectively is an inground, large swimming pool, and then we're enclosing it in its independent building. features. So it'll have a large water section, it'll be heated and be solar powered. There will also be viewing platforms for members of the public, and also an area for staff to give talks."

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