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Geography & Places
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The Strange Tale of Australia's Giant Worm Museum: From Wonderland to Abandonment and Rebirth
In Bass, Victoria, the Wildlife Wonderland Park housed a unique Giant Earthworm Museum. After the park's 2012 closure over welfare concerns, the iconic worm-shaped building was abandoned before being saved and relocated, preserving a piece of weird Australian history.
Along a highway near Bass, Victoria, stood a peculiar piece of Australian tourism: a massive, 75-meter-long concrete worm. This was the Giant Earthworm Museum, the star attraction of the Wildlife Wonderland Park. It was a monument to one of the region's most fascinating and elusive creatures, and for years, it offered visitors a truly bizarre journey—literally through the guts of a giant worm.
A Monument to a Monster Worm
The museum was dedicated to the Giant Gippsland Earthworm (Megascolides australis), a creature of almost mythical proportions. Native to the Bass River valley, these subterranean giants can grow up to three meters (nearly 10 feet) long. Despite their incredible size, they are notoriously fragile and rarely seen, living in complex burrow systems deep within the damp, clay soil. Their protected status makes them difficult to study, making the educational mission of the museum all the more unique.
A Journey Through the Digestive Tract
The experience inside the Giant Earthworm Museum was unforgettable. Visitors would enter the worm-shaped structure and crawl through a magnified recreation of an earthworm's burrow. The main event was the simulated worm stomach, a chamber designed to mimic the internal workings of the creature. Accounts describe the walls as wet, textured, and even pulsating, creating an immersive and slightly unsettling biological adventure. It was a hands-on, slightly gooey approach to natural science that left a lasting impression on a generation of Australian children and tourists.
The Rot Sets In: Why Wonderland Closed
The magic of Wildlife Wonderland came to an abrupt end in 2012. The park was forced to shut down after failing to secure a new license to exhibit wildlife, following long-standing concerns over animal welfare and inadequate funding for the upkeep of its facilities. The operators were given notice to find new homes for the park's animals, and the gates were locked for good. The Giant Earthworm, along with the rest of the park, was left to decay, becoming a popular destination for urban explorers who documented its slow decline.
The Second Life of the Big Worm
For five years, the iconic worm lay derelict, its paint peeling as nature reclaimed the abandoned park. It seemed destined for demolition. However, in 2017, a community effort saved the structure from the wrecking ball. The 'Big Worm' was carefully dismantled and transported to a new home at the Gippsland's an anaconda park resort in Rokeby. While no longer a museum you can crawl through, its preservation ensures that this strange and wonderful piece of Australian roadside architecture lives on as a local landmark, a testament to a time when you could learn about nature by pretending to be digested by it.