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Welcome to the first of our blogs aimed to keep everyone up to date with the latest happenings at Lone Pine. Visit often to find out what our staff and animals have been up to behind the scenes.
2009 is drawing to a close and it's been a busy year for us! A lot of new developments have been completed or are still under way and there's even more to come.
Our beautiful perentie "Flynn" had a brand new home built for him this year and after some initial shyness, he can now be seen out basking on his rock or lazing by his pool. The perentie is Australia's largest land lizard and Flynn is definitely worth seeing.
2 new southern hairy nosed wombats have been added to our animal family and are enjoying life in the new enclosures which were built especially for them within the boundaries of the kangaroo reserve. You may have already met our other wombats - Holly and Arnold (also southern hairy nosed) and Boris, Womble and Dozer (all common wombats) but Phil and Judy are certainly worth visiting! Phil is the largest of all our wombats weighing in at nearly 30kg(!!) and Judy is proving to be quite a lovely lady. For the first few weeks Phil and Judy will be given a chance to settle into their new surroundings and won't mix with any of our other wombats, but who knows - there might be the patter of baby wombat feet some time in the future. All the staff have everything crossed.
Recent visitors have probably noticed a lot of building activity near the koala mother and baby enclosures. This site is being developed to house platypus which is extremely exciting. Lone Pine hasn't had a platypus since "Peter" died of old age way back in 1988 so having them back again is something we are really looking forward to. The actual opening date is not confirmed just yet, but we'll keep you posted!!
Speaking of mother and baby koalas, now is an excellent time to visit them. We still have joeys emerging from their mother's pouches plus we have very playful back young which certainly provide us with plenty of entertainment! A great time to see them at their cheeky best is around feed time (between 1.30pm and 3pm) or late afternoon. Koalas are crepuscular animals which means their most active periods are around dawn and dusk and you would be surprised just how active they can be! The joeys enjoy playing with their mothers (and each other!) and it's always fun to watch. This time of year is also breeding season for koalas, so there will be brand new joeys born very soon. Koalas are seasonal breeders and their breeding season are the spring/summer months, so the next few months are always very busy (and noisy!) times. Male koalas tend to announce their territory more often during breeding season, and they do this by bellowing. Many people think it sounds like a pig grunting or even think the koalas are snoring so listen out for this distinctive sound when you vist - you will be amazed how loud they can be!
Spring is also a busy time for the birds as many prepare nests and start laying eggs. Our barking owls which are on display next to the koala retirement home, recently became parents for the 2nd time. Mr and Mrs Barker had a very shaky start to their relationship and initially they didn't get on at all. Mrs Barker was quite bossy and poor Mr Barker was soundly rejected. Happily, they discovered a liking for each other last year and successfully hatched 3 chicks. Bo, Baileys and Schnapps were hand raised by 3 of our raptor staff and you can now see them flying in our raptor show. This year, their fondness for each other had not diminished and they hatched out another 3 chicks. They are happily raising their offspring and are wonderful parents but so far the chicks are a wee bit young to be out of the safety of the nest. We look forward to meeting them properly very soon.
Until the next installment, we look forward to seeing you at Lone Pine!
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Last Edited On: 2010-02-16 01:45:51 By Karen for the Reason |
Karen
Senior Wildlife Officer (head koala keeper) |
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