Shearwater season at Bonorong!

Many of you may be unaware but this time of the year is known to all the staff at Bonorong as 'Shearwater season'. The Shearwaters surprised us this year as they have been a little behind schedule but since late last week we have had 23 come in to our care, which understandably has been keeping us very busy!

Short-tailed Shearwaters (also known as Mutton Birds) are a remarkable little seabird and at this time of the year they are preparing for their annual migration to the Arctic region.  These birds (that weigh a mere 500g) will fly over 15,000 km to get to their destination and after a few months of feeding on rich foods they will make the return flight home (yep another casual 15,000km!!)  They return back to some parts of mainland Australia and Tassie to breed.

You might be asking why are they coming into care then?  Well what happens is the fledgling chicks are usually the ones that end up in our care as they are taking off for the first time.  A lot of them get a little off course and can crash land or some haven't managed to get enough food before the big journey and are simply underweight.  Both cases are usually dehydrated and need short term care to get them back on track and then released so that they can get on their way!

If you do find a Shearwater over the next couple of weeks then please call us as soon as possible so that we can get the bird re-hydrated and in to our Seabird Rehabilitation Enclosure. Bonorong's 24 hour wildlife rescue hotline is 0447 264 625.

Bonorong kangaroos soaking up the sun!

This is one rather content resident Forester Kangaroo soaking up the sun on a beautiful Autumn's afternoon here at the Sanctuary.

Bonorong is open for normal business hours right throughout the Easter period so if you are looking for something to do then pop out and say g'day! Our daily guided tour times are at 11:30am and 2pm everday.

There will be a lot of people travelling across the state over the Easter holidays so please drive carefully, especially in more rural areas between dusk and dawn. If you do happen to find injured or orphaned wildlife over the busy Easter period then remember we are still here to call 24 hours a day so please save our number in your phone - 0447 264 625

Three-legged echidna Randall out and about

Last week brought some exciting news for one of the Sanctuary's residents! Some of you may remember Randall the Echidna? Well Randall has been in rehab for almost a year after he was attacked by a dog. The attack left Randall in need of an emergency operation to amputate his severely bitten right front leg.

Despite all odds Randall made an amazing recovery and his stump has healed well. The last few months have been a process of Randall strengthening his stump so that he can still walk around on it with out risk of it getting any abrasions.

He has made amazing progress and last week the team at Bonorong felt comfortable to trial him in one of our large enclosures within the Sanctuary grounds.

This was well received by Randall and he has spent the past week exploring his new home and enjoying every minute of it!!

Randall will be a permanent resident here at Bonorong due to his missing front leg which will inhibit his ability to dig in the wild properly.

Come and meet Randall and listen to his story. The message he will help to spread will be one of responsible pet ownership and in Randall's case a focus on dogs.

Here's Randall as a youngster.

Rescued seabirds cooling off and growing up

Although today was a little cooler, Hobart has certainly had a pretty decent run of hot days over the past fortnight! We are sure many of you local Hobartians have had a visit or two to the beach? Well here at Bonorong our seabirds have certainly made full use of our 5 star seabird pool for all their hot weather needs!

Seabirds cooling off

If three of these Kelp Gulls look familiar (maybe minus a bit of fluff?) well this is Aqua, Hughie and Espa who were featured on facebook when they were first rescued and brought to the Sanctuary as little chicks! The fourth Gull is 'Storm' who was found 2 weeks after our trio came in to care but has since buddied up with them and they are now all good friends. Also we should mention that their is a fifth member of our gull family that didn't make it into this picture (it is quite a task getting all 5 at once!) and just so he doesn't get offended his name is 'Owen'. 

All 5 of our Kelp Gulls have actually just started to fly which means we will be planning their release over the coming few days, very exciting stuff for the Gulls (and for the keepers too!!)

We will be sure to keep you posted!