Douglas family renew vision

Grand plans for the future and a renewed commitment by his family will keep the late Malcolm Douglas’ famous crocodile parks thrilling tourists for years to come.

A shopping and cultural precinct at the original Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park in Cable Beach, and new exhibits at Malcolm Douglas Wilderness Park just out of Broome, such as a walk-in aviary and wild crocodile walk, are just some of the ideas on the horizon.

An intrepid and famed adventurer, filmmaker and conservationist who established his original park in Cable Beach in 1983, Malcolm was killed in a freak car accident last September.

Malcolm’s son Lachlan Douglas said his father had brought much celebrity and exposure to his parks, but his mother Valerie was also part of the lifeblood of them – and she had decided to stick with the business.

Valerie, Lachlan, his sister Amanda and the park managers met in Broome last week to decide the future of the parks, which had been running at a loss for some time. Mr Douglas said they had been keen to decide on consolidating and improving the business.

“There is a future for the parks without Malcolm … the team has done such a tremendous job over the last six to seven months in helping us achieve that,” he said.

Mr Douglas especially thanked managing director Mark Jones, and wilderness park manager Marshall Black.

Mr Jones said over the next 10 years and beyond, the new vision involved scaling back the original crocodile park in Cable Beach, and building a cultural and shopping precinct on the northern side of the site.

New exhibits at the wilderness park may include a petting zoo, walk-through aviary and crocodile boardwalks.