Jabiru is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was originally built in 1982 as a closed town to house the community living at Jabiru East near the Ranger Uranium Mine eight kilometres away. Both the mine and the town are completely surrounded by Kakadu National Park. At the 2006 census, Jabiru had a population of 1,135. Jabiru Township is thirteen square kilometres in size. The town is owned as freehold by the Director of National Parks and Wildlife, from which a head lease is held by the Jabiru Town Development Authority (JTDA). The JTDA subleases to the mining company, government agencies and private business. The head lease expires in 2021.
The town is named after the bird, Jabiru, or more correctly, the black-necked stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus), which is a tall long-necked wading bird in the stork family. It is a resident species across South and Southeast Asia with a disjunct population in Australia. It lives in wetland habitats where it forages for a wide range of animal prey. Adult birds of both sexes have a heavy bill and are patterned in white and glossy blacks, but the sexes differ in the colour of the iris (male brown and female yellow). In Australia, it is called a jabiru although that name refers to a stork species found in the Americas.
In Jabiru, there is a curious hotel, the Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel, which is located on the eastern side of Kakadu National Park. The unique shape of the hotel reflects the large number of crocodiles found in this National Park. The hotel is a 2 ½ hour drive from Darwin and makes an ideal base to explore Ubirr & Nourlangie rock art galleries and the towering escarpment of Arnhem Land.
