Moonlit Sanctuary Moonlit Sanctuary

[MRJ]

One week later and the quarantine facility is up and running. First inhabitants are 6 orange-bellied parrots going through 3 months pre-release quarantine.

 

[nanoboy]

Fantastic work, MRJ. Glad to hear that it worked out well. Best of luck with the release!

 

[MRJ]

Wombat enclosure opening

Our new wombat enclosure (see above) was officially opened last Wednesday by the Federal Threatened Species Commissioner, Gregory Andrews, in front of an enthusiastic group of schololchildren. Afterwards the Commissioner was taken on a tour of the Sanctuary and we were able to have a fruitful discussion on threatened species matters.

 

[Jarkari]

I visited moonlit sanctuary over the last two days. I wasnt totally sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised when i got there. It is a very cool park and you can see the team is very passionate and this will be a place to watch. I'm a fan of the smaller wildlife parks because i feel they provide a more personal experience and despite the 20 hour return trip ill definitely be visiting regularly to see how they progress.

 

[MRJ]

Recent Arrivals

Recent arrivals include 0.2 hairy nosed wombats from Taronga, 1.0 swamp wallaby from Healesville, 0.1 Eastern whipbird from Taronga, 0.1 sacred kingfisher, 0.3 regent honeyeaters from Taronga, 1.0 helmeted honeyeater from Healesville, 1.2 white-browned woodswallows from various, 2.0 banded lapwings, 0.2 dingo pups from a private breeder, 1 centralian carpet python and 2 water pythons.

Breeding season is underway with spot-tailed quoll joeys observed, 2 barking owl chicks hatched and the whipbirds already producing 2 eggs.

 

[Chlidonias]

very nice. Is that your only swamp wallaby or had you got some others earlier? (I remember when I was there you didn't have any at that stage).

 

[MRJ]

very nice. Is that your only swamp wallaby or had you got some others earlier? (I remember when I was there you didn't have any at that stage).

No we now have five in total.

Also neglected to mention 0.1 koala.

 

[MRJ]

New education building

Not finished yet, but we will be using it for the Junior Rangers program this school holidays.

 

[MRJ]

Newsletter

Moonlit Sanctuary's latest newsletter:
The New Show, Cafe, Outdoor eating Area,*

 

[MRJ]

Moonlit Sanctuary's new show, "Conservation in Action", starts Jan 4th. It will run every day thereafter at 2.30pm.

 

[MRJ]

With some depressing news coming out of the orange bellied parrot captive recovery program in the last few days I thought I would start the year on an upbeat note with a photo of some of our chicks from this season. (For those who don't know the orange bellied parrot is a critically endangered migratory parrot).

 

[MRJ]

New encounter times winter 2016

Moonlit Sanctuary Presentation and Encounter times starting from the conclusion of Daylight Saving (Sunday 3rd April).

Presentations (keeper talks included in admission.)

11.00 am Dingo
11.30 am Koala
12.00 noon Python
12.30 pm Tasmanian Devil
1.00 pm Corella Training
1.15 pm Koala
1.45 pm Python
2.20 pm Conservation in Action show (30 minutes)
3.00 pm Koala
3.30 pm Wombat

Encounters (interact directly with the animals, extra charges apply)

Koala 11.30 am, 1.15 pm, 3.00 pm.
Python 12 noon & 1.45pm.
Dingo* 12.30 pm & 3.30 pm.
Barn Owl* 12.15 pm.
Dingo Walk* 10.15 am.

Tours (extra charges apply)

Behind the Scenes tour* 11.00 am
Evening tour* 7.00 pm

* numbers limited so advance booking recommended.

 

[LilianL]

Would love to visit some time - I did Zoo Lates (June only) at Edinburgh Zoo and would really recommend the evening tours.

 

[MRJ]

One for World Environment Day

Our new bush stone-curlew breeding aviary. We have been supporting a recovery program in southern New South Wales for some years now. Looking forward to when we can reintroduce them locally!

 

[Chlidonias]

are they found wild around Melbourne at all? It would be cool seeing wild ones during your night tours!

 

[MRJ]

are they found wild around Melbourne at all? It would be cool seeing wild ones during your night tours!

They were found on the Mornington Peninsula till the 1940's and Phillip Island till the 1950's. I once had an elderly woman on a tour who remembered hearing them call locally. Yes it would be great if they were like the Cape Barren geese, wild but resident. Maybe in a few years.

 

[MRJ]

Barking owl in Show

Thought I would share this because it is a great photo. It is a barking owl in our Conservation in Action show.

 

[zooboy28]

There is a photo on Moonlit's Facebook page of a "new" owlet-nightjar, which looks awesome.

@MRJ - is this only viewable on the night tour like the "old" owlet-nightjar? Is this still kept, and what is the backstory of the new bird?

 

[MRJ]

There is a photo on Moonlit's Facebook page of a "new" owlet-nightjar, which looks awesome.

@MRJ - is this only viewable on the night tour like the "old" owlet-nightjar? Is this still kept, and what is the backstory of the new bird?

The owlet-nightjars are kept with the feathertail gliders and being nocturnal are only viewable on evening tours. We lost our old female bird about 6 months ago, she was 19 years old which we think is a record for this species. We actually received two males from Perth Zoo, one 10 years old the other 10 months old. Sadly to date we have never managed to have males and females at the same time. These birds are uncommon in captivity as they are only really of interest to zoos with nocturnal houses. This makes them difficult to obtain. I think currently only 2 or 3 zoos have them. There was an article and photo in yesterday's Herald-Sun as well.

 

[Chlidonias]

the Herald Sun article: No Cookies | Herald Sun

THEY are the smallest nocturnal birds in Australia and tricky to spot in the wild, but visitors will have no trouble seeing Moonlit Sanctuary’s two latest additions.

The male owlet-nightjars, which came from Perth Zoo, were last week released into their new enclosure where they will keep company with feathertail gliders.

Visitors will be able to see the little birds and learn more about them as part of the Sanctuary’s lantern-lit tours.

Moonlit Sanctuary director Michael Johnson said the aim of the tours was to raise awareness in the community about Australian animals and what we can all do to protect them and their habitat.

“With our tours we want to show the unique Australian animals that exist in the wild that people won’t see during the day time and are even hard to spot at night,” Mr Johnson said.

“We also want to encourage people to think of ways of conserving these animals. For example, the nightjars make their nests in hollows of dead trees, but people often cut down dead trees. They are also at risk from feral species of birds like Indian mynas.”