The first two enclosures are done!
We have been busy behind the scenes, working on the first few of the new wildlife enclosures that we have planned to build this season. Look how happy Womby looks in the transitional outdoor enclosure! 🙂
We started with the new Wallaby enclosure in October. The old one has served twenty Pademelons and Bennett’s Wallabies over the last 5 years and needed to be replaced.
The progress of building a Wallaby enclosure
Plan for the new enclosure was to use mainly recycled, strong and long lasting materials. Of course we wanted it to be aesthetically appealing and safe for the animals as well. We chose an area on the property that was partly open and sunny, but also had enough trees and foliage to provide some natural shelter and shade for the wildlife.
Additionally to those natural features, we mounted up some large branches and soil to create a spot for the animals to hide under cover. We also managed to sow some grass just before we had a week of light precipitation (it has been super dry for months!!), which was perfect timing and really helped the grass grow quickly.
Although the enclosure was not quite finished yet, we were ready for a test run. Our oldest Bennett’s Wallaby Joey Barney got introduced to the new outside enclosure first and seemed to love it!
Barney enjoyed to have a good hop around and scoped out the new shelter straight away. Wallabies naturally seek a place under cover to be safe from predators like birds of prey.
After a little while checking out the area from his shelter, he felt safe to explore the area a bit further and munch on that juicy grass! 🙂
Now we just had to finish off the last few details of the enclosure. Chicken wire had to be wrapped around the top of the fence to prevent the wallabies from jumping over it. Some friendly folks helped us with this task and it was done in no time. 🙂
Because we currently have three Bennett’s Wallabies in care, we also needed a relatively large shelter to hang up their pouches under cover and to provide a warm area for them to rest on windy and rainy days.
As usual, Barney was more than happy to try the new pouch set-up for us. Looking very comfortable!
Stoked!! The first enclosure is done. Ready to start the next one! 🙂
New temporary Wombat enclosure is up next
Womby came into care when she was about 2.8kg and has been growing and putting on weight nicely. Time for her to move into a very sheltered outside area, that should serve her for the next couple of months.
Wombats loooove tunnels, burrows and digging up soil. All these features were needed for the transitional enclosure. Plus it had to be very sheltered from wind and rain, because Womby is still quite small, weighing 5.5kg now, and she likes it nice and cosy.
The photo above shows the tunnel and burrow system we created for her. We used soil, rocks a log and tree stumps to make up a natural looking entrance to the tunnel. The whole enclosure is filled in with soft dirt and rocks, so Womby can dig freely. Digging is an essential skill for a Wombat joey to gain before it can be released.
Time for Womby to explore the new enclosure.
Similar to Wallaby joeys, Wombats also seek a safe shelter naturally. She scoped out the entrance to the tunnel that leads towards her burrow straight away. Then she started playing and dug into the tunnel, turned around, came back out and raced back into the tunnel. Practicing important life skills. 🙂
Thanks for your support!
A big THANK YOU to all the lovely people who have joined our tours in the past. You help fund our wildlife rescue and rehabilitation work, as part of the tour rate goes towards our wildlife orphans to pay for their milk formula, medication, building materials etc.
