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SYDNEY, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Workers at Sydney's harbourside Taronga zoo are refusing to collect animal dung in a protest over wages.

The Australian Workers' Union said on Friday that the maintenance workers would down shovels to press their demands for a three percent pay increase.

"Something stinks at the zoo and, come tomorrow, the public will be able to witness it for themselves," said the union's state secretary for New South Wales, Russ Collison.

"What has outraged the workers is that management have given themselves the three percent pay rise but are denying it to the workforce," Collison said in a statement.

The managers of the zoo, where elephants, lions and other wildlife graze and prowl in sight of the famous Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, said animals would be on display as usual over the weekend.

The zoo had "adequate holding facilities" for storing animal waste without disturbing visitors, the zoo's chief executive Stephen Rees said in a statement.

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