Your Hosts Dean, Kirsten, Jaryd and Sophie would like to welcome you to stay the night at Fauna Australia Wildlife Retreat and share in the many amazing daily and nightly experiences.
A qualified Zoologist; Dean studied Zoology at The University Of Melbourne, specializing in Conservation Biology, Animal Behavior, and Marsupials and Monotremes. He has had a keen interest in Australian Wildlife all his life.
Growing up on a dairy farm in Northern Victoria, Dean’s interest in animals began to spread to Australia's vast array of beautiful bird species. Starting with keeping the humble Budgie at the age of 5, his knowledge in Australia's birds began to grow. With Australia being first known as “Terra Psittacorum” the Land of Parrots, it is no wonder his interest spread in these species. As his collection grew, he began to build an outstanding array of Australian Parrots including Rosellas, Cockatoos, Neophemas, Lorikeets and several other species like the endangered Princess Parrot. Finches, Quail and Waterfowl began to be included in the collection. In 1992 at the age of 18 he purchased his pride and joy a young pair of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos (the species which is now the mascot of the 2006 Commonwealth Games). To the present day he has kept 38/61 species of Australian Parrots including the endangered and most beautiful Major Mitchell Cockatoo (which he has successfully bred) and the majestic Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (which live at Fauna Australia Wildlife Retreat today).
Sadly the collection had to be reduced due to his commitment to University, but his studies exposed him to the plight and uniqueness of Australia’s reptiles and mammals.
His interests began to grow into the area of Australia’s reptiles and mammals. While at University he began to keep and breed common Blue-tongue Lizards and a rare Australian Marsupial, the Kowari.
Little be known to him, it was this interest in Australian Mammals that would lead to his chance meeting of Kirsten in January 7th 1996, with the most unusual pick up line, "Can I hold Your Wombat please?"
Kirsten studied Ecotourism through Charles Sturt University with major studies in: Wildlife Management & Ecology, Interpretive Guiding & Planning, and Tourism Marketing. She chose this path due to her interest in Australian Wildlife, and wanting to help others understand and enjoy Australia's Unique Wildlife. She has always lived in the most beautiful Australian forests including the Dandenong Ranges, Gunbower Island State Forest, and presently the pristine Otway Ranges.
Growing up around all sorts of furry animals, and within these environmental surrounds it was no wonder she began to take an interest in Australia's unusual animals. The mammals, in particular the endangered nocturnal species took her attention. She gained her Commercial Wildlife Displayer’s License in 1992 and commenced operating ShannKirst Zoological Reserve (now known as Fauna Australia) on her parent’s 120 acre property located on Gunbower Island, Koondrook (the largest inland island in the Southern Hemisphere). It wasn’t long before she began to mass a varied array of Australian Mammals. Wombats, Possums, Gliders, Kangaroos, Wallabies, Bandicoots, Bettongs and Potoroos began to call ShannKirst home, with many species being the first on the Island since their extinction in Victoria. So well suited to the area, it was not long before the rare Brushtail Bettong (Woylie) and Rufous Bettong were breeding on the Island again. Reptiles and Birds also had a home at ShannKirst, as well as the 260 wild bird species that inhabited the area on the 60 acre wetland located on the property.
It was in January 1996 when she met Dean at the establishment of the Marsupial Society of Victoria, that Kirsten realized that this was another mammal that she would like to add to her collection.
With the two parties together it was not long before their interests were combined and in June 1998, Fauna Australia was opened in its present location, after 7 months of building enclosures to house the vast collection, relocating all the wildlife the 400km journey south and converting what was once farmland into what it is today.
Over the years they built up one of the largest and most varied private collections of native wildlife in Australia. They have a particular interest in the lesser-known nocturnal mammal species, many of which are endangered in their wild populations.
The Wildlife Park allowed guests to see a variety of different wildlife
from all around Australia. The variety included two species of
Koala, two species of Wombats, a variety of Kangaroo species including
the big and the small, carnivores like the Tasmanian Devil and some of
Australia's most venomous snakes.
They believe that the only way for people to realize the importance of
conservation is to actually meet our wildlife up-close.
A glimpse of a fleeing wild animal, or a picture in a book
doesn’t instill that same connection, as getting to know each animal
shows that they all have different personalities.
Because the animals are captive bred, they are extremely used to
people and see them as being part of the family rather than a
predator. This allows the close interaction that the visitor’s
desire. Their long-term
goal is to predator proof fence their entire property to allow the reintroduction of Australia’s most vulnerable species.
Few people realize that Australia has ashamedly the highest
extinction rate in the world, predominately occurring since European
settlement.
On 24th July 2003 the most important addition to their
extended family was the arrival of their son Jaryd at 4:52 pm.
If they thought that looking after over 200 animals of over 70
species was difficult, then they were in for a surprise.
With the difficulty of juggling the park and their newborn son,
they decided to close the park in June 2004 to the general public and
concentrate on their successful endangered breeding programs and hence
developed Fauna Australia Wildlife Retreat.
They also wanted to spend more time enjoying their animals and
sharing the variety of experiences which they get everyday with their
guests, giving them an up-close, personalized Australian Wildlife
Experience; without the crowds.
The main emphasis now is trying to breed many of the species which they
keep that are difficult to breed like the two species of wombats which
they house. Due to the
aggressive nature of their breeding, wombats are rarely bred in
captivity. Developments in artificial insemination may be the answer.
The future will tell.
Chloe was born on the 13th August 2007. She loves birds as Dean has been incubating and hand-raising lots of them in the house. She loves the baby Major Mitchell Cockatoo's crest!
Dean, Kirsten, Jaryd, Sophie & Chloe would like to welcome you to Fauna Australia Wildlife Retreat.
Share their experiences and make some memorable memories of your own.