Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary and native fauna refuge reopens at Mylor
WARRAWONG Wildlife Sanctuary founder and renown conservationist Dr John Wamsley is delighted his beloved native fauna refuge at Mylor has reopened.
WARRAWONG Wildlife Sanctuary founder and renown conservationist Dr John Wamsley is delighted his beloved native fauna refuge at Mylor has reopened.
Hundreds of visitors converged on the Adelaide Hills sanctuary on Saturday as the first day of spring marked a new beginning for the one-time popular tourist landmark.
“It was wonderful to be here and it brought back a lot of memories,” Dr Wamsley said.
“They have a massive job still to do but they’ll get it done. They know what they’re doing and have my full support.”
Dr Wamsley turned the former dairy farm into a emblematic example of habitat restoration, working for years to eradicate feral animals and plants, installing a feral-proof fence, and creating a natural habitat where native animals such as bettongs and potoroos thrived.
It became a national showpiece on how to restore native fauna and flora in a healthy ecosystem.
Dr Walmsley and wife Prue left the property in 2005 and it closed in March 2013 when then-tenants Zoos SA left.
David Cobbold and Narelle MacPherson, from WA, bought the 11ha property for an undisclosed sum from the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority and, in a 18-month project, have brought it back to its former glory including a platypus pond.
Dr Wamsley was delighted to be guest of honour at the opening and praised the restoration project.
He recalled that when he first opened the sanctuary in 1985 no-one came — until a front page photo in The Advertiser of a bettong triggered crowds of visitors and supporters.
Dr Wamsley, the Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year for 2003, won notoriety for wearing a pelt of feral cats as a hat in a stunt which outraged some people but firmly focused attention on the devastating toll being taken on native wildlife by them.
He said the rest of the world was catching up to the threat of feral cats to native wildlife, and he had been interviewed by US media on the issue.
Mr Cobbold, who previously owned the Peel Zoo at Pinjarra, south of Perth, said the opening was exciting. “It’s great … but there’s so much work to do,” he said.
Warrawong will open daily from this weekend