Moonlit Sanctuary Moonlit Sanctuary

[MRJ]

New thread for a new year.

First thing is a new website:

Moonlit Sanctuary - Home

We hope to give each species we hold a page of it's own, and these will be added over the next 12 months.

Any comments or criticisms appreciated.

 

[CGSwans]

Looks great MRJ. Love the map. The animal photos are all good quality with the exception of the orange-bellied parrot one. The visitor information is all good though from what I can tell visiting via bus on a Saturday afternoon *is* possible on a Saturday? I like how you've identified what animals can be seen during the day and what can't be.

Unless you confirm that the Saturday PT isn't possible I will aim to visit in the next couple of months. It's ridiculous that I haven't done so before, but I don't have access to a car.

 

[MRJ]

Looks great MRJ. Love the map. The animal photos are all good quality with the exception of the orange-bellied parrot one. The visitor information is all good though from what I can tell visiting via bus on a Saturday afternoon *is* possible on a Saturday? I like how you've identified what animals can be seen during the day and what can't be.

Unless you confirm that the Saturday PT isn't possible I will aim to visit in the next couple of months. It's ridiculous that I haven't done so before, but I don't have access to a car.

Sorry no Saturday afternoon bus.

 

[CGSwans]

I might have to direct a complaint towards the PTV website then.

40 minutes return in a taxi rather blows the budget, I fear.

 

[MRJ]

First orange bellied parrots to be fledged in our breeding facility yesterday. Three so far and more coming. Chick on left, mum on right. OBPs are a critically endangered species with fewer than 80 in the wild and Moonlit Sanctuary is breeding birds for release as part of the recovery program.

Also could someone please place this thread under Moonlit Sanctuary?

 

[zooboy28]

First orange bellied parrots to be fledged in our breeding facility yesterday. Three so far and more coming. Chick on left, mum on right. OBPs are a critically endangered species with fewer than 80 in the wild and Moonlit Sanctuary is breeding birds for release as part of the recovery program.

Also could someone please place this thread under Moonlit Sanctuary?

Congrats on the fleglings MRJ!

The new website looks great too, I especially like the lists of species to see on the night tours, I must do that again this year, have to see the owlet-nightjar!

I have moved the thread too.

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

Congrats on the orange-bellieds!

Any update on captive numbers?

 

[Chlidonias]

The new website looks great too, I especially like the lists of species to see on the night tours, I must do that again this year, have to see the owlet-nightjar!

owlet-nightjars are cool! I've only seen them here at Moonlit and at Perth Zoo. I very much recommend visiting Moonlit for a night tour.

 

[MRJ]

Congrats on the orange-bellieds!

Any update on captive numbers?

Thanks. Overall captive numbers would be between 200 to 300 birds. The last figures I saw were prior to this breeding season and the releases late last year, so are inaccurate now.

 

[snowleopard]

New thread for a new year.

First thing is a new website:

Moonlit Sanctuary - Home

We hope to give each species we hold a page of it's own, and these will be added over the next 12 months.

Any comments or criticisms appreciated.

I just spent quite a bit of time on the website and I'm impressed! The many links are very user-friendly and far superior to what was on there before; the information about ecotourism is intriguing; the park map is easy to comprehend; and I particularly enjoyed reading the "about us" section that includes little facts such as: "planting of over 10,000 native Australian trees and plants".

What I personally really enjoy is when zoos have a timeline of events as I find it exciting to track the progress of an establishment over the years. Something like this:

2005- Dingo exhibit was built. Southern bettongs bred for the first time. Construction began on a new saltwater crocodile habitat.
2006 - Tasmanian devil exhibit opened to the public. Moonlit Sanctuary won an ecotourism award for the greater Melbourne area. Etc....

Just a thought for the future...but otherwise I love the improved website.

 

[nanoboy]

Fantastic website. Well done!

 

[MRJ]

OBP news

The young male orange bellied parrot we bred last year which was released into the wild has been observed in the wild yesterday. He was in good condition which is a very positive sign.

So far this season we have had 5 chicks fledge in our breeding facility, with more fertile eggs still to hatch.

 

[boof]

great news about the obp. thanks for working with them to give them a chance in the future

 

[MRJ]

New Arrival at Moonlit Sanctuary

We were waiting around late tonight for a male barn owl to arrive from Cleland Wildlife Park in South Australia. After 30 days quarantine he will be introduced to our female, who has been on her own since her last mate died during last year’s breeding season.

Other arrivals this year include rainbow lorikeets from Peel Zoo, red-bellied padimelons from Healesville Sanctuary, red-necked wallabies from Halls Gap Zoo, rufous bettongs from Wild Action, and a pair of Australian shelducks from Melbourne Zoo.

Departures include 0.6 feathertail gliders to Healesville Sanctuary, 2.0 feathertail gliders to Cool Companions, 2.3 feathertail gliders to Wild Action, 1.0 Major Mitchell cockatoo to Gumbuya Park, 1.0 barking owl to Peel Zoo, 2.1 spot-tailed quolls to Featherdale Wildlife Park, 1.1 spot-tailed quolls to Wild Action and 1.0 satin bowerbirds to Hartley’s Crocodile Park.

 

[Chlidonias]

do you have any feathertail gliders left? Or are they just breeding like rabbits?

 

[MRJ]

do you have any feathertail gliders left? Or are they just breeding like rabbits?

We do breed a lot of feathertail gliders. Actually we do quite well with all the gliders.

 

[MRJ]

New construction at Moonlit Sanctuary

We are building a new wombat exhibit. It will house 1.2 southern hairy nosed wombats, and will be more than 8 times larger than the current exhibit. It will be designed so it can be divided into three smaller enclosures if required. We will be moving our current male, Birri, in with two females due from Taronga later this month. Our elderly female Rita will remain in the current enclosure where keepers can manage her pain issues, until she dies. The old enclosure will then be demolished.

In addition we are constructing a bank of aviaries to house our presentation and encounter animals. This will ease housing issues in other parts of the Sanctuary, and facilitate keepers training their charges.

 

[Chlidonias]

how far down does a wombat fence need to go to stop them digging out? Or does one dig out a great big pit, line the entire thing with mesh and then fill it back in?

 

[MRJ]

how far down does a wombat fence need to go to stop them digging out? Or does one dig out a great big pit, line the entire thing with mesh and then fill it back in?

We did the later for our old enclosure, but digging out to any scale is very expensive and also damaging to tree roots etc. We looked at a lot of enclosures when planning this and many enclosures just lay the mesh on the ground then dump a mound of dirt on top. Some don't even bother with a mound and just use artificial burrows. We were not so impressed with these enclosures.

So to answer your question we will have a barrier that goes down 1.2 metres and 1 metre above ground. We have worked out a way of doing this that is inexpensive and quick to do, does not disturb tree roots unduly and will not be at all obvious to people viewing the enclosure. Hopefully it works!

 

[MRJ]

New Quarantine Facility

Recently we were advised that we would have to quarantine orange-bellied parrots selected for release for three months. This threw us into something of a panic as we did not have any facilities suitable and we have 6 birds scheduled for release this summer. Given that we were also seen a growing number of movements in and out of other animals, we made the decision to build a new quarantine facility capable of handling all these tasks. Using commercially-available metal frames and gate panels, we were able to get construction underway quickly. The new facility will have 15 pens 2.4x1.2 metres in size, and will be physically divided into two blocks of 5 and 10 pens each. The internal barriers can be removed from between pens, giving us the possibility of having pens of up to 12x2.4 metres if we want. This will allow us to flock outgoing orange-bellied parrots together, giving them more room to exercise and allowing them to socialize. This investment in the future of orange-bellied parrots is costing about $15,000.