Dianna & Warwick’s work with wildlife & the environment

For what’s happening with our current animals in care, check out the ‘Tails from Rocklily’ or ‘Wildlife In Care Now!’ pages (the links are in the column on the right-hand side of this page).

I (Dianna) have been a wildlife carer for many years while living in urban Sydney. I was always very busy as a reptile handler, and had innumerable possums, birds, lizards, snakes, echidnas and wombats in care. Wombats, while not normally found in metro Sydney, were cared for until a local group from where they were found was able to take them on, buddy them up, and move them on to release through their members.

Retiring to our Property Rocklily near Wombeyean Caves NSW when Warwick was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease, we could think of nothing we would like more to do that be fully involved in careing and releasing wildlife from Rocklily. Feeling that there just was not much information on what happens after release we have researched and really focused on ways we can see what happens and monitor them for as long a possible. We are also trying to raise them resiliantly (just like the kids we used to foster)

We are currently moving forward with an increase in size and facilities of what is now our soft-release enclosure for macropods, and we now have a wombatorium.

We are also providing a safe place for wild animals and focusing on education on various environmental issues. Both of us have become members of Wildlife Rescue South Coast, this group covers a large area from the coast right over to Taralga half an hour west of us down to the Victorian boarder, skirting the ACT. Dianna now the wombat co-ordinator for the southern Highlands and Tablelands of NSW. A daunting task as we are introducing our supported soft release method as over the last few years have some valuable insights into what happens, and the pitfalls of some methods of care.

Our website is now our only income to support the wildlife we care for, their various needs including food, housing and medical.

We also concentrate on the treatment of mange in the wild populations of wombats, producing and providing information booklets and treatment and working with any landholders needing help in this regard.

I’m sure our projects will continue to evolve and fill our time.

July 2014 Built a wombatorium.

April 2014 Built a movable release wombat pen on property behind us.

Feb march 2014 Built a joey palace attached to our soft release macropod pen.

April 2013 has seen us with the Turtle of Change, see our Facebook and Project page for details.

March 2013 Our Macropod soft release site (stage 1 at 1500 sqm) is up and running with 2 orphaned eastern grey kangaroos now resident. Ryan and Missy, both about 14 mths old in March 2013 when they were handed to us, will be soft released in spring. They have been getting to know our resident mob and are proving a delight. Warwick seems to be their favourite!

October 2013 We start to stockpile roller doors for our Wombatorium, but have been a little bit occupied with 4-5 hourly feeds (24 hrs a day) of 2 baby wombats and 1 swamp wallaby and a red-necked wallaby!

Check out our news and soft release stories for more on these little ones.

Ryan & Missy watch each others’ backs

 “Come on guys, time to go back where you’re nice and safe for the night.” “Who, us?” And Warwick spends time enticing the roos back to their 1,500 SQM soft release pen… with roo nuts of course!

Baby possums are very cute and in Warwick’s giant hands are adorable!

Spiny Norman … see his story here in the June 2012 Puggle Post

Spud, found on a dark wet winter night weighing just 500g, was raised for 6 months by Dianna & Warwick.

The day Spud at nearly 3 kg and finally at “out of the pouch weight” was transferred to Phil & Lesley at NARG to be buddied up with another wombat for the rest of her journey back into the wild. Wombats spend 2 years with mum and eventually at around 20 kg (for common bare-nosed wombats) make a life of their own.

Spud at close to 20 kg about 3 months from release.

Our ‘detention’ centre: a 6-foot wallaby wire-fenced compound to keep wallabies & roos away from our raspberries. Not many raspberries survived but we hope with some advice and more work it will form the bones of a macropod enclosure one day maybe.

 

It’s pretty overgrown, but the wild wallabies and roos can be seen sitting in the bracken on wet days sheltering, and a free nibble of raspberry leaves poking through the school fencing is a bonus.

 

Story from Sydney North Shore times 2011. It’s always better to reunite if you can.