Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary

Seeing Tasmanian devils was the reason for our visit to Tasmania, however, it is almost impossible to see these nocturnal animals in the wild. Luckily, there are a couple wildlife sanctuaries on the island that house orphaned and injured devils. The Bonorong wildlife sanctuary, being one of them, is conveniently located just 40 minutes from Hobart.

During our short time here in Tasmania, we were struck by how many roadkills we saw on our drives. The explanation for the disconcerting amount of dead animals is, one, Tasmania has a lot of wildlife, and two, the speed limit here is higher than it is on the mainland. When animals are accidentally killed, sometimes their pouches are checked for joeys, and any surviving babies will be brought to the sanctuary. Orphaned animals will be raised and released into the wild when deemed suitable. Those determined not fit for survival in the wild will remain at the sanctuary.

Meet Stella, she is a healthy 13-month old orphaned wombat, who will slowly be introduced back into the wild when she turns two.

Wombats bear single joeys, and are raised by their moms until age 2, at which point the teenage wombat will drive its mother out of the den they’ve been living in for the past two years. This allows the not quite mature wombat a leg up in survival. Mom can always go out and build herself a new den and prep for her new joey.

One interesting fact about the wombat is that its poo is square shaped. This allows it to poo in high places to mark its territory or attract mates, and the poo stays in place without rolling away.
Wombats have short tails with a hard, nerveless fascia covering over their rumps. This is a defense feature. Wombats will jut their butt out in the opening of the den and leave a small space between their rumps and roof of the den aperture (usually a tree root or trunk) for the predators to stick their heads into that space. Once the predators’ heads are in there the wombats will crush the predators’ skulls between their rump and tree trunk.

Unlike wombats, Tasmanian devils will bear 20-40 babies at a time. The babies, the size of a grain, will follow a mucus path to one of 4 teats and latch on for the next few months. So out of 20-40, only 4 will survive.

(Volume up) When the first European settlers heard the cries in the jungle at night, they thought it was the devil. And that’s how the Tasmanian devils got their name.
Tasmanian devils are carnivorous scavengers, and can smell their next meal literally from a mile away. The problem with the prevalent roadkills on the roads is that the devils become the next victims while feasting on the roadkills. So roadkills are often moved off to the side to protect these endangered species.

The infectious Devil facial tumor disease has a high rate rate of transmission and mortality. Transmission of the disease is through bites during mating and feeding. In Tasmania every effort is made to control transmission. This includes culling the diseased population, placing a few healthy animals in zoos and wildlife reserves, introducing healthy populations to Maria Island (an island off Tasmania), and reintroducing them back to Tasmania. Lastly, vaccine research is ongoing.

The short-beaked echidna is a small anteater. Like the platypus, it is a mammal that lays eggs.
Usually solitary until mating season, during which time males will follow a female for days on end, forming an “echidna train”. The one that’s able to keep up after several days gets to mate with the female. Another example of survival of the fittest.
A chance to fee kangaroos. The Tasmanian forester kangaroos in Tasmania have thicker coats for the colder climate.
Check out those claws!
Emu is the second largest ratite.
Rainbow lorikeets are non native to Tasmania, and these were abandoned pets. Unfortunately, they cannot be released back into the wild because of their nonnative status. They pair for life, and at least these birds have each other’s company.

There were a bunch of other nocturnal animals in the sanctuary that we didn’t get to see since they were hiding somewhere. But we were happy to have seen what we came here for.

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