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Everyone
has their one favourite Australian animals. We have a few
favourites, but after staying at Fauna Australia Wildlife Retreat
so will you. |
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When
staying you will make some special friends so why not help out and
sponsor them. We do not offer individual sponsorship, but
you can sponsor a species. Koalas, Common Wombats,
Kangaroos, Bats, Bandicoots, Bettongs or Curlews. It's your
choice. Your sponsorship goes towards the feeding and care
of all the animals at the park. You however will get a photo
and information regarding your designated sponsored animal and
your name on our sponsorship board. |
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| Q.
Why should I sponsor an animal? |
| A.
Unlike Government run Zoos and Wildlife Parks we receive no
Government funding or financial assistance. All the funds
possible go back towards the animals. Food, housing, acquisitions,
transport etc is provided via our guests' tariffs. |
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| Q.
How much does it cost to feed the animals? |
| A.
Last year our animal food bill was in excess of $15,000 or
averaging around $290 per week. |
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| Q.
What does it cost to feed an individual animal? |
| A.
It depends on the individual animals and their diet. It
costs about $200 per yr to feed 1 Wombat. We have lots of Wombats,
so it costs over $2000 per yr to feed all the wombats. It
costs about $100 yr to feed the pair of Black Cockatoos. |
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| Q.
What does it cost to feed a Koala? |
| A.
It is a little harder to work out as they eat leaves and we
harvest the leaves and do not buy them in. There is a cost
still associated with them. There is fuel for transport
while getting them, harvesting equipment, cost disposing of the
left over leaves, buying seedlings to plant and grow more trees and
the cost of the land set aside to grow them. We also work
for free. By taking just time into account it would cost
about $22,000 per yr to feed and look after the Koala
colony. |
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| Q.
Where do the animals come from? |
| A.
All the animals come from a legal source. This can be either
from the Government, Institutions or private individuals.
Our first Koalas cost us $3000 ea. Thankfully we do successfully
breed them. We are very successful in breeding many of the
species we keep, so we also trade with other places. The
trade may not cost anything but the freight and transport do have
a cost. It also costs money to build new enclosures. |
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| Q.
What does it cost to build enclosures? |
| A.
Lots. But it depends on the enclosure. The property
originally started with a house, one unit (which was turned into a
reptile house), some sheds and buildings and cow paddocks.
Over several years we built the park and accommodation from
scratch. Most enclosures cost around $2000ea in materials to
construct. Our labour is love. |
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| Q.
What happens to the animals you breed? |
| A.
We keep many for breeding purposes, others go to other wildlife
parks. Many are now going to private individuals who have
set up conservation areas on their properties. Some of the young
hand raised babies are now being used as Wildlife Education
Ambassadors
in schools all across Australia. |
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| Q.
Will some of the animals be released into the wild? |
| A.
I would love to say Yes, but the answer is No. Many of the
animals we keep are extinct in their original habitat. The
main reason being introduced predators like foxes and feral/
domestic cats. They just would not survive if they were
released. The only way to preserve and see them is places
like us. Until foxes, dingoes and cats are eliminated from
our environment many of the species we keep will never be in the
true wild again. |
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| Q.
Do you look after sick or injured wildlife? |
| A.
No. There are people and places in our area that do.
Many wild animals are sick for a reason. Being wild is very
hard and some individuals do find it difficult to survive.
Unless an animal has been injured from a human act or an
associated act like dog attacks, nature should be left to take its
course. It is hard on us but that is what being wild is
about. One animal provides food for another, being alive or
dead.
Many of our animals are extinct in Victoria and we do not want to
introduce any diseases to our very important animals.
Looking after an injured animal does take a very large amount of
time. Our resources are used to look after our animals and
maintain our accommodation business. |
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| Q.
Why are accommodation guests only allowed? |
| A.
We used to operate as a wildlife park but being open 7 days a
week, 364 days yr and looking after everything was very time
consuming. We decided to do accommodation only and share the
animals with our guests. Our guests have access to the
wildlife and get the opportunity to see many that are only active
at night. Our guests also appreciate it more, as they can stroll
around at their leisure. If you would like to see the
animals, make a booking to stay. |
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