News Archive
 The 'IN THE WILD' brochure includes
our newest tour - the Croajingolong
Journey a private 4 day tour in the wilderness where you can
relax in luxury.
The brochure also features some of the wonderful
photographs taken by overseas guests. Thank you Jeroen Wolfslag, the
Netherlands; Alan Wyatt, UK; Elias Snaeland Jonsson, Iceland and Janna
Veeren, the Netherlands.
Special
Sightings!
We
are recording any unusual or 'special' sightings during our
tours and research trips. The
Special Sightings photos can be found on Picasa as well as
photos from Janine's Koala Research report.
Sometimes it may be unusual
behaviour
or fantastic moments captured of animals we see regularly or
animals and birds that we do not commonly see in our travels.
These
sightings are being reported to the local National Park
Rangers and the Field Naturalists Club and are providing some valuable
information which is being included in their publications.
This
is in addition to the reports that Janine provides as part of
the
Koala Research program.
Some of these included many Yellow-tailed Black
Cockatoos, three Brushtail Possums in one hollow, a group of Sugar
Gliders, as well as a pair of frisky Swamp Wallabies, pair of mating
Willie Wagtails and a pair of very 'cosy' looking Echidnas - and Spring
is over!
One small honeyeater visited guests and stayed
with our group to try and avoid a menacing Falcon who finally gave up
and left it alone. One large Wedge Tailed Eagle was on ground waiting
to feed but being hassled by smaller Whistling Kites and another couple
have been seen chased by Magpies.
We have also seen Buff-rumped Thornbills,
Silvereyes,Red-browed Firetails , Yellow Thornbills, Spotted Pardalote,
Superb Fairy-wrens, Grey Fantails, King Parrot, Rainbow Bee-eaters,
Yellow-billed Spoonbill and Tawny Frogmouths during recent tours.
New
Koala baby Pitta - can you see her?
Goodbye Raini
Those of you who met our lovely old lady koala Raini will be saddened to hear
that she passed away on 29th February. She also featured in our recent
news item [on the left]. We found her on the ground, looking dejected,
and took her into koala hospital. But her kidneys had failed and she
passed away a few days after. She was comfortable, warm and well fed
and died in her sleep. She gave many people a lot of happiness and we
all miss her terribly.
Smoky's new baby
Smoky, Raini's close neighbour, has an active
pouch! Janine saw a  distinct bulge and an obvious slit where the
pouch opening would be. So the strange behavior that we had observed on
4 Feb may well have been Smoky giving birth, which would make this
youngster 24 days old. When first born he/she would have been between
0.5 and 1 gram, and about 2cm (nearly 1 inch) long. Let's cross our
fingers that this little one lives as good a life as Raini! It is very
unusual and special to be privileged to witness this in the wild.
Thank you to the team
A very busy cruise ship season has just finished
in mid April. We have been able to provide memorable experiences for
many hundreds of overseas visitors thanks to our great team - Alison,
Bill, Tim, Paul, Tatiana, Mary, Sarah, Lizzie, Martin, Belinda and
Joanne who have also made some new overseas friends. The
stars of the Kangaroos and Koalas tours have again
been our wonderful wildlife who have been most tolerant of us and often
provided some perfect photo opportunities for our guests.
Zelda and the Brown Snake
Everyone's a bit nervous about snakes in
Australia. We love them, but we're still careful - you know, you don't
ever take them for granted! But have you ever wondered what other
animals think about living with snakes?
We saw a very special thing late in March. It was
very, very hot and a very proud older lady koala Zelda (see first pic),
was sitting on the ground beside a waterhole. It was the coolest place
to be, and she could put her feet in the water when it got too much to
bear. It was her version of going to the beach! Koalas in the You Yangs
often sit on the ground on very hot days, but they usually jump up into
a tree as soon as they hear people coming along. Sometimes, though, if
you're very quiet, you can see something special!
Our Savannah Walkabout small group came up
quietly, and saw lovely Zelda on the ground. She was even drinking from
the waterhold while they watched (middle pic). Then, as they watched in
amazement, an Eastern Brown Snake appeared and slithered calmly past
Zelda! It is very difficult to see - in the third pic to the left of
Zelda, beautifully camouflaged amongst the sticks and leaves on the
ground. He passed within centimetres of her, and she didn't even blink!
Most of us would have fainted!
  
The Eastern Brown Snake is considered to be the fourth deadliest snake
in the world. They are beautiful animals. We rarely see them, as they
are so shy. But you know, the threat from snakes in Australia is vastly
overplayed - they don't want to hurt us, or koalas or any large animal
that they can't eat! Zelda proved that to us. Sometimes we humans just
need to "chill out"!!!
 News directly from 'Raini' - our lovely old
lady koala
 “It's tough being a wild koala you know.
Everyone thinks we have the easiest life - just sleeping, eating and
sitting around. Well, it's easy for you to say! No warm bed to snuggle
up in at night - we're just stuck out on a bare branch in all weather.
So we have to have warm, thick, water-repellant fur for those cold
winter nights. Then, of course, the sun comes out and we have to put up
with 30 degrees C (90F) in our fur coats all on the SAME DAY!!!
As if that's not enough, lately we have had insult
added to injury. These pesky little birds - White-naped Honeyeaters -
want our warm fur to line their nests! So they fly over, perch on our
bottoms, and pluck out our fur! It's disgraceful. You should have seen
this cheeky one the other day. He had so much of my fur in his beak he
could hardly fly for the weight of it. Ha Ha, served him right. Looked
like he'd grown a beard!
But that's not the worst of it. My mate Tim Tam has a family of
Brown-headed Honeyeaters living near him. They don't come for fur one
by one, they come in hordes! See this picture if you don't believe me.
He had about ten of them around him, doing flypasts, swooping and
distracting him, while two at a time jumped on him and plucked. Ouch!”
[from Janine: “this is fair dinkum!
Actually, some of the koalas seem to enjoy it. They have been losing
their winter coats, so it might be like getting a good brushing.
Others, like Tim Tam, look really annoyed!”]
Bubba the Magpie - October 2007
Bubba is a temporary member of the team – he is a baby Magpie who fell
out of the nest and broke his leg. He is very demanding and is not
providing any help at all. His mum and dad have been friends of
Janine’s for a few years so she and Roger were soon on the spot to
rescue him quickly and care for him with Vet advice and wildlife
shelter support. He is spending more time with us than we anticipated
as he needs some daily physio to get his feet working properly.
Corroboree 2007 in NSW in September was
a great opportunity to meet up with the Aussie Specialists from USA and
get to know some new agents. We were also delighted to hear that our
presentation was voted as the top Aussie Experience
presentation by the Aussie Specialist agents in attendance!
Australian Fur and Feathers tour
Our newest tour is proving popular with overseas
visitors. This relaxing 3 day module showcases the very best wildlife
of southern Australia - see large mobs of wild Kangaroos, track down
wild Koalas and walk quietly beside wild Little Penguins as they emerge
from the ocean in the evening as well as many more wild animals and
birds. That’s why we’ve named this tour Australian
Fur and Feathers - in the wild!
Finally, Some rain in Winter 2007
Could you help please? We've forgotten a whole
range of words, because we haven't used them for so long (particularly
in Victoria). There is a word for the water that falls from the sky.
Then there's a word for water lying on the ground - it starts with p...
we think.... And suddenly we need these words! It's so exciting!!
Yes, you guessed it - we've had rain!
Not just a shower or two, but real,
drought-breaking rain! At Serendip, where the kangaroos live, we've had
more rain in these last six months than in the whole of last year. In
one night we had 19 mm (nearly an inch) and for a place that only had
about 250mm (10 inches) for a whole year, that is pretty good!!
Victoria's water catchment levels are actually starting to rise
slightly - still way below half full though.
Better still, there is grass on the ground and
leaves on the trees!
The kangaroos are jumping for joy (well, as you
know they jump anyway, but we are sure there's more spring in their
step!)
The koalas are drinking like fish. And they say
koalas don't drink! Actually, they do - when rain runs down the trunk
of the tree they lick it.
They even get water by licking their wet fur, when
they are really thirsty (see pic of Mary). It is so cute - their
tongues are thick and pink, just like ours!
We are so happy, and hoping that it just keeps on
raining....
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National Geographic and our Koala Research -
April 2007
December 2006 was very exciting when the team
from National Geographic UK spent 3 days filming Janine and the Koalas.
Some of our friends overseas have emailed to let us know that they have
seen the vignette on the TV or the article which appears in the April
issue of the National Geographic magazine in some areas. The National
Geographic vignette is a large Quicktime movie.
We are hoping that this promotion will assist in
gaining more support for the Koalas which only remain in isolated
pockets in eastern Australia. Disasters such as the recent bushfires
threaten these populations and diminish the gene pool. There are many
ways that people can support them so please let us know if you wish to
get involved. Some people may want to donate or buy some of Janine's art. top of page
Summer 2006/2007
It has been a very busy and interesting summer
and autumn for the Echidna Walkabout team.
The summer stayed later this year with warm
weather until start of May. We have now had some very welcome light
rain. Our water supplies are still very low and much more rain is
needed if the long drought is over. The paddocks are becoming a little
greener in the first week of May and our native animals and vegetation
need the rain as it has been a very tough few years. top
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Emu encounter - November 2006
Some people are not afraid of anything! They are
rare, but they exist. They are always the ones you least expect - like
the wonderful lady in mid November. Janine had just mentioned that emus
are attracted to people who are small and silly, and before I knew what
was happening, the lady had disappeared! Next I saw she was creeping
towards two emus on hands and knees, through the bush. In her lovely
white pants, I might add....
Well! The emus were FASCINATED! Like me, they did
a double-take. The two of them suddenly switched direction, and the big
female (female emus are bigger than males and more courageous) boldly
strode up to my friend! From only 2 metres away they regarded each
other solemnly. Confident female bird meets brave female human. It was
beautiful.
Janine decided not to leave her alone, hunched up
and crept up to join her. Mistake! The emus turned away in disgust and
walked off. Do they know Janine already? And have they seen all she has
to offer, and no longer of any interest? She learned a hard lesson that
day - sometimes she is just not required!
Emus are deeply curious and fairly confident in
their domain. So sometimes with the right approach, you can get close
to wild emus - appeal to their sense of fun by doing something silly!
And as emus are normally gentle creatures (it is very rare for them to
become aggressive - only in captivity or if defending young).
Aboriginal friends have taught us the right method with emus, and it
really does work.
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Emu update - Alex
Charlie's baby is doing well and is about 3
foot/1 metre tall - and now looks like a little adult emu with a black
furry neck. She/he now mixes in with the other adult emus and is quite
confident. As it will be a long time before we know whether he/she is a
girl or boy we have chosen the name Alex after a friend's child in the
USA. (If you missed the story to date see the earlier emu story in the
news archive).
In November 2005 we told you about Alex - and here
is the evidence showing how big he is in December.
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Emus breeding
There's always something going on - even in the
depths of winter. Emus choose this time of year to breed, which is
probably very smart - (and can I tell you something? Emus are very
intelligent! More about that some other time...)
Two chicks underneath their
Dad
An exhausted looking Male
Emu - sitting on
most of his eggs.
Anyway, our favourite emu fella, Charlie, set up
nest in the middle of an island in the billabong. (Once again, very
smart!) He had 10 glossy blue-green eggs, each the size of a small
football, and he sits on them for two months, not eating properly and
never leaving them. He loses stacks of weight, poor fella. And here's
the rub - where's his loving wife, mother of these children? Nowhere to
be seen! After she lays the eggs she clears out forever and goes
shopping with the girls.....
On 3 August 2005, visitors from Newport Beach, California were with us
when we were lucky enough to see Charlie's first day old chick. We
quickly moved on without taking a photo as he was a nervous parent.
And Rudi our little baby Koala is
now a big boy!
East Gippsland tours
Our scheduled Wildlife Walkabout and Snowy River
Secrets tours to East
Gippsland take a rest for winter and will begin again in
September ... and we can't wait to welcome in the Spring in this
wonderful wilderness region. Spring is the best time to see the
wildflowers and the chaotic activity of birds nesting, egglaying and
feeding their young.
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East Gippsland
It is wonderful to be back visiting East
Gippsland following the winter break and seeing Spring at its best. We
are looking forward to some marvellous tours in the next few months.
High in the mountain forests of East Gippsland,
the brilliant red Waratahs are flowering!
 They look so bright against the green and
white background of Tree Ferns and giant Shining Gum trees.
Every year in November, the flowers in the
mountains bloom - the swathe of deep orange of the Bush-pea, great
bunches of white where the Christmas Bush or Daisy-bush are, the Golden
Everlasting making a deep yellow border along the road, and the rare
but exquisite flower of a ground orchid - tiny white Lady's Fingers and
yellow & black Leopard Orchids.
Down the hills, the black-barked Silvertop Ash Gum
Trees are sending out new leaves, which appear as a glowing red halo on
the tops of the trees.
Wallabies are enjoying the warm weather in the
mountains (their winter can be cold, with occasional snow!)
Black Swamp Wallabies abound
in the dense forest around Errinundra and Buchan (where their dark
colouring blends in beautifully), and are usually seen alone.
Red-necked Wallabies prefer
the high, open plains and are often found grazing on farms in small
groups. They look just like little Grey Kangaroos, but have more red
colouring around the face and neck, and a pretty white stripe on both
cheeks.
All wallabies are really just small kangaroos and
have much in common with their bigger relatives. In fact, telling the
difference between all our species of wallabies, kangaroos and
wallaroos can be a challenge!
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Visitors from around the world
The Echidna team has had a hectic summer season
of tours and meeting some wonderful wildlife lovers from around the
world who we would love to see again in the future - USA, Denmark,
Japan, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Austria, France, Ireland, New Zealand,
Mexico, Costa Rica, Philipines and even Reunion and Gibraltar. [what a
wonderful way to earn a living!!].
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Koalas are loved around the world!
Koalas are very popular with people of all ages
in so many countries. Their welfare and future is of keen interest
around the world. We are always meeting people who tell us that the
koala is their favourite animal - and what good taste they have!
- Recently we have been talking with a real koala
lover - Carla Sluiter from Netherlands who has a dutch language website
which supports the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, NSW - www.koalaziekenhuis.nl
- and talks about seeing Koalas
in the wild with our tours as well.
- Catie, a sophomore from Pennsylvania, is
studying koalas and has been accessing our Koala Research web
information and emailing for more information - hope to see you
Downunder sometime Catie.
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Koala Research update
Koala Research!
November 2007 - The program is going well in the
You Yangs and the Brisbane Ranges but of course much more time would be
wonderful. Our friend Marilyn [wildlife carer] has been providing some
valuable information as she is spending hours a day searching and
monitoring Koalas. 6 Koalas burnt in the bushfires were rehabilitated,
tagged, released and their locations monitored by GPS. They are very
hard to find as they have moved around and so the whole area and its
Koalas are being surveyed and information recorded regularly.
Koala Research workshop!
As a member of the Friends of the Brisbane Ranges volunteers, Janine
held a practical Koala Research workshop in November 2007 with the
group and they learnt how to identify Koalas by their nose patterns.
The workshop was followed by an afternoon of Koala spotting and the
Friends are keen to be more involved in the research.
In November 2007 Janine spent some valuable time
doing her favourite research - staying 'in the wild' with her Koala
friends.
As well as watching, talking and getting to know
them all better she updates her research information. This includes
each Koala's home range, health, who is new in the area and any
evidence of new babies, etc. She also gets some new photos and
sometimes even the opportunity to do some drawing. We will update the
individual Koala webpages.
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Koala Life
Breeding season is now over, though the males
kept wandering around hoping until late March! Any babies would be in
the pouch by now, and growing quickly. We have our fingers crossed
hoping for a few babies this year! We should know by August, but we
might have some idea earlier if the mother's are co-operative and walk
around showing off their round bellies!
Female koalas have pouches, just like kangaroos,
but koala pouches are very low on the mother's belly, with an opening
on the underside. Sounds crazy, since the mother spends most of her day
upright, but the muscles of the pouch opening are very strong and the
baby doesn't fall out. The tiny baby is born about January, and crawls
into the pouch, where it will stay, warm and sheltered until around
August or September. Before then, though, some babies peek out to see
the world, and we have seen little furry heads, arms and legs poking
out of the pouch as early as June!
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Thank you
Thank you to so many of you who have sent
messages of support and donations since the bushfires in January. We
have lost a lot of Koala friends but learnt and gained as well. We have
made some new friends and been amazed at the depth of feeling for
koalas amongst you and our past clients. Some Koalas are still in care.
Special thank you to the fourth grade
pupils at Linscott-Rumford School in Woburn, MA in USA for
your concern for the koalas and your wonderful donation. One of our
recent clients told them about the bushfires and the children wanted to
collect money to help in their recovery.
Carla Sluiter from Netherlands with her dutch
language koala website has also supported the carers here - www.koalaziekenhuis.nl
Some of you have donated to the special fund we
set up for these koalas secure payment facility.
ALL donations have been put towards direct expenses related to the
ongoing rescue and rehabilitation of koalas burnt and damaged in the
2006 Brisbane Ranges bushfires and the Framlingham fires of December
2006. This work is still continuing with expenses - veterinary,
dressings and food. Some koalas may still come in for care as eye and
breathing problems often show up later.
Donation amounts and expenses are being monitored
and reported on this website. Donations have been about $1500 with most
of this going directly to Wildlife Victoria and used to reimburse
wildlife carers. We received a further $465 and this has all been used
to reimburse carer's expenses for medical dressings, xray costs and
special formula.
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East
Gippsland birds are again in the news!
A recent tour guest on the Wildlife Walkabout in
East Gippsland is a top birdwatcher in Denmark, on his second trip to
Australia. He knew all our birds, from the book - he just hadn't seen
them yet. It was a real pleasure to travel with him. Some highlights in
addition to our normal wildlife encounters and around 100 different
bird species included one female Southern Emu-wren, Clamorous
Reed-warblers (lots of them) a Golden-headed Cisticola, a Pilotbird,
two Spotted Quail-thrushes and 3 Bassian Thrushes! We also saw an
Australian Fur-seal playing off the rocks and a Southern Brown
Bandicoot which showed himself to the lady guest.
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Plenty of birds in East Gippsland!
After a recent tour with us, Jim Peterson from
Texas has added to his website some much needed information about the
birdlife of East Gippsland - see www.nctexasbirds.com/egippsland.htm. Thank
you very much Jim.
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Wildlife Carers
We are pleased that there is more awareness now
of the dedicated people who look after our native wildlife in Australia
and we are keen to support them wherever we can. They are registered
volunteers who rescue and rehabilitate our injured and orphaned
wildlife without any government assistance. Marilyn at Beremboke
Wildlife Shelter is near the Brisbane Ranges and has been
looking after animals from the bushfires as well as others with
injuries. She has a very professional and caring way and is often
helped by Anne, the Vet.
Some of you have made donations to help contribute
to this work and we are so grateful. All of these funds have taken some
of the financial pressure off and been directly applied to medical
expenses, dressings, special formula and food. Koalas and others are
STILL in care so all donations are still most welcome.
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Adopt a Wombat
We also work closely with Helen Velden at Cape
Conran Wildlife Shelter in East Gippsland who covers a very
large area in Victoria's wilderness region. Her particular love and
regular guests are the wombats particularly the orphans who she often
has in care for a long time. She also cares for all other native
wildlife as well. YOU can support Helen by adopting one of her special
characters which would provide much needed help for the shelter.
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Autumn in Melbourne, Victoria
We have just finished our warmest April on
record!! Our Autumn (Fall) weather is usually mild and often more
settled than other seasons. But this year we have had very warm weather
right through April, and May has started well too. The look of the Bush
changes subtly from summer to autumn - our native trees are evergreen
so our Bush remains green all year round, but some of the gum trees
lose their bark at this time of year, resulting in a wonderful display
of oranges, yellows, blues and reds on the trunks of the trees. Ribbons
of old bark hang loose from the trees, waving and sighing in the
breeze. These curls of bark are home to many small creatures, which
attract beautiful insect-eating birds like the Crested Shrike-tit.
 The first wildflowers will start to bloom
very soon - many of our native plants don't wait until Spring, as the
weather is so temperate, year round. Wattles (acacias) are some of the
first to burst forth with their fuzzy, round yellow blossoms, and their
buds have already appeared on the branches. With all these flowers
right through the year, no season is unwelcome!
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Winter in Melbourne, Victoria
Our tours around Melbourne and the Great Ocean
Road continue all year. Melbourne's winter weather is much milder and
shorter than many people experience in their own countries. Our native
animals are quite active - especially kangaroos. Wildflowers start
blooming very early (some have started already) so there is a lot of
colour in the bush. In addition, the shorter days of winter are a
benefit on the day tours as we get the chance to enjoy the late
afternoon sunshine slanting down through the gumtrees.
We are having some lovely sunny days with chilly
mornings. However we are hoping for some rain during the next few
months as Victoria is still experiencing drought conditions. Victoria
has just finished an Autumn which was the driest since 1900 and the
warmest since 1950. (Australia is the driest inhabited continent on
Earth). We will welcome some rain, even if we are out on tour, as our
rain is not usually heavy or long lasting.... and it only snows in the
mountains.
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Summer in Melbourne
Our busiest time is here again and we are looking
forward to making some more friends as well as catching up with some
'older' friends from overseas. Our Christmas will be the usual
wonderful gettogether (probably hot food on a hot day) with all our
extended family. We wish you all the best for the holidays.
As well as our usual smaller group tours, the
cruise ships will be visiting Melbourne again. We host some very large
groups who are keen to see our Australian wildlife in their natural
surroundings "in the wild".
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Spring 2006
Spring came enthusiastically to Melbourne this
year with some very pleasant weather - similar to what our European
guests and clients were experiencing this September during Autumn/Fall.
A very busy season has arrived which includes an
increased number of cruise ship tours this year. While we specialise in
personalised small group tours we are also experienced with large
groups as well. For many years we have been successfully conducting
cruise ship tours with very large groups of guests, so we look forward
to making a lot of new friends as well as seeing some old friends.
Janine has just returned from visiting some of our
agent friends who were most welcoming and it was a great opportunity to
get to know all the office staff we usually only communicate with by
email or phone.
Our bushfire areas are regenerating and we predict
that we will see some amazing wildflowers this year. The animals and
birds are returning to the bush although it will still be some time
before things settle down.
Our three most famous Koalas - Bear, Ingrid and
Jamie are being monitored regularly and seem to be doing very well
following their dangerous and stressful experiences during and after
the bushfires.
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Black
Saturday bushfires 2009
A HUGE THANK YOU for all the messages we have
received from our friends overseas who have seen reports of our current
bushfires in Victoria.
Melbourne has experienced record high temperatures
and wildfires again. Saturday 7 February was a killer day in every
sense - hot gale-force winds and a temperature of 48degrees Celsius
(118.4 F) combined with years of drought to produce a very quick but
devastating series of bushfires. At this stage 173 people have been
confirmed dead and over 750 homes lost.
There is no way of knowing how much wildlife has
been lost, but the numbers will be very high. Our Wildlife Carer
friends Marilyn and Helen will be very busy doing rescues and caring
for the injured in the weeks and months to come.
We have been very lucky. On the Western side of
Melbourne we had no fires. Our koalas and kangaroos are safe, and our
wildlife habitat is not in danger. Janine spent Saturday monitoring
wildlife and watching for fires. All the koalas were on the ground,
huddled under branches and vegetation to keep cool.
The weather has moderated and cooled, and we even
had some rain in the west. Current conditions are fine outside of the
fire zone and we are hoping it will all be over very soon without any
further tragedy.
Our tours are all running - the Savannah
Walkabout, Great Ocean Road and Australian Fur & Feathers are
not threatened in the foreseeable future. Our East Gippsland tours -
the Wildlife Walkabout and Croajingolong Journey - are a long way East
of the current fires, so not in danger either.
This is global warming. For us, it's fires
& drought. For North Queensland it's floods. For the US it's
hurricanes in the east & fires in the west, for South-east Asia
it's floods, and floods in UK & Europe. Knowing the problem is
the first step to making it better. We believe we can help fix this,
just by talking about it and starting a ground swell!
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Bush regenerating after bushfire - July 2006
The bush is regenerating 6 months following the
bushfire and animals are getting around and feeding on the epicormic
growth. There have been many koalas 'travelling through' and it may be
another year before they settle into new home ranges. We are always
thrilled to see our Koala friends Bear who is well settled back into
the bush and Ingrid and Jamie who remained in their area throughout the
fire. We are still hoping to see some of our friends come back to the
area. We have made new Koala friends in the You Yangs and want to
continue these new relationships as well.
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Bush regenerating - January 2007
 There are lots of Eastern-grey Kangaroos,
Swamp Wallabies and small birds in the bush that burnt a year ago. They
are sheltering from the heat in the thick new growth at the base of the
Gum-trees It is cool and shady down there. (Janine crouched down under
the growth beside a tree to see what it felt like - just beautiful!).
Under every second tree there are animal tracks,
droppings and crushed leaves. The burnt bush has become a haven for
wildlife. It almost seems that The Bush is doing her best to shelter
and feed her animal inhabitants. top
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Bushfires and the Koalas - February 2007
As you may have heard there have been bushfires
in Victoria again this year which started very early in the season.
Many wildlife have again been burnt and of course the Koalas are
vulnerable. There is more hot summer to come so we are hoping for lots
of rain.
Our friend and wildlife carer, Marilyn at
Beremboke Wildlife Shelter has taken in 8 of the burnt koalas from
another area to help out. As well other animals and birds, she has
Mumma K in care from last January's fires and we are so pleased that
her claws have grown back and she is now having special manicures to
help shape them ready for release as soon as the bushfire threat is
over.
When Lena, an orphan from the new fires was
introduced to Mumma K she immediately adopted her so that has been
great for both of them. Lena is also attaching herself to other females
and sharing herself around.
 Koalas rescued from last year's fires and
released healthy, weeks or months later, are being seen in the area
again as it grows back. Bear (right) is looking just
great. Our other famous friends - Ingrid and Jamie
in the Brisbane Ranges are also doing very well and ALL have been
showing some real interest the opposite gender - a great sign!
We had thought Caz and others were just passing
visitors to the area but they are back and looking wonderful.
We are learning so much that contributes to our
knowledge of the Koalas and benefits Koala research.
Bushfire season 2007 - March 2007
Although the season started out with some early fires in our state and
some very threatening times with our extended drought conditions, We
survived the summer without bushfires in our areas.
One Victorian forest which had a large population
of Koalas was 90% burnt in mid January which was devastating for the
resident Koalas. Some survivors are still recuperating in care with
volunteer wildlife carers. Three of the koalas that Marilyn at Beremboke
Wildlife Shelter had in care are now healthy and back in the
bush.
You Yangs Regional Park - January 2007
The You Yangs has a large and healthy population
of wild koalas. In an area of about 1 square kilometre around the main
access tracks, we have identified over 30 resident koalas in the space
of just one year. This has been very valuable for our Koala Research project.
We were delighted to return Nina You
Yangs to her baby on New Year's Day - a wonderfully positive
start to a new year. As we mentioned last month, we met her
for the first time in the You Yangs on 3 December. She is beautiful!
Along with her wonderful carer Marilyn we were all very eager to get
her healthy and return her to her baby in the bush.
ATE 2005 in Perth
We were very busy with The Australian Tourism
Exchange (ATE) during June - Australia's biggest tourism trade event.
Hundreds of international travel agents converge on Australia (Perth
this year) to meet with Australian tour operators, hotels, etc. We have
made many friends over the years and it was wonderful to see them here
in Australia.
Roger looked after the Melbourne operations - with
tours and famils happening during this time as well. This is a great
opportunity for overseas agents to see exactly what we do while they
are in Australia.
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ATE 2006
ATE was held in Adelaide this year and Janine
represented Echidna Walkabout at this special tourism event meeting
with agents from around the world while Roger, Belinda, Alison and the
team looked after operations during our busiest June in 14 years. This
has been followed by a long overdue and well earned holiday for Janine
and Roger - leaving Alison and Belinda (and the two resident cats -
Flipper and Jack) in charge.
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ATE
2009
The Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) is THE
annual event for the Australian tourism operators - the overseas
industry comes to Australia to check out our very best tours and
accommodation. Melbourne is hosting this year's ATE which opens in next
week - we are excited about welcoming our overseas industry colleagues
back to the best city in Australia. We have been exhibiting at ATE for
about 15 years - it is an important, busy and exciting time in the
Echidna Walkabout calendar.
Last year ATE was held in Perth and we were proud
to be selected by Tourism Australia as a featured tour operator in
their first Green Watch newsletter
(you'll find us on page 3)
Check out our Environmental
Policy and practices.
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of page
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Martin, Roger and their group saw a Grey
Goshawk on their Croajingolong Journey in March. PLUS they all saw
a Yellow-bellied Glider and heard many. 
