HRH The Crown Princess and TRH Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine paid a visit to the Copenhagen Zoo on 2 February 2022 and broke ground for “Mary’s Australian Garden” on the occasion of The Crown Princess’s 50th birthday. “Mary’s Australian Garden” is a new area that is getting a modern and green facility that will house animal species from The Crown Princess’s native country. The area will be combined to consist of a newly-built aviary together with the existing kangaroo facility and facility for Tasmanian devils.

In connection with the visit, Their Royal Highnesses had a tour around the Garden. The establishment of “Mary’s Australian Garden” is the first step in the execution of a grand master plan, which in coming years will involve major changes in the animal facilities at the Zoo.

During the tour, The Crown Princess, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine were shown the penguin facility, where zookeeper Maya Rasmussen invited Their Royal Highnesses to feed the penguins.

Zoolab, which is the Garden’s interpretation center, had a visit by the kindergarten class from the Ole Rømer School on the day’s occasion. Subject specialist Julia Suhr spoke about the characteristics of the snake and invited Their Royal Highnesses to hold a snake.

The tour led the royal family through the kangaroo facility, which will become a part of “Mary’s Australian Garden” along with the neighboring facility that houses the Tasmanian devil. The Copenhagen Zoo first housed Tasmanian devils in 2006, when the state of Tasmania presented four of them to The Crown Princess in connection with HRH Prince Christian’s christening. Denmark is the only country outside of Australia that houses the Tasmanian devil, and the Copenhagen Zoo succeeded in getting a Tasmanian devil to breed in 2013. That is probably the only time ever that a Tasmanian devil has given birth to joeys outside of Australia.

After the tour, The Crown Princess was able to break the first ground for the new Australian animal facility. Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine also took part in the activity. In connection with the official groundbreaking ceremony, a number of speeches were given. There were also cheers, and birthday songs were sung, led by The Children’s Choir of the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Frederiksberg Municipality Mayor Michael Vindfeldt concluded his speech by presenting The Crown Princess a gift in connection with her birthday on 5 February 2022. The gift was a donation to one of The Crown Princess’s patronages, and it was bestowed to the Copenhagen Zoo to use for a project benefitting children. At the end, The Crown Princess expressed her thanks in a speech.