Shelter Facilities

Shelter Facilities

Cape Conran Wildlife Shelter began at this location in 1998 and has been providing excellent facilities and housing for the animals in their care depending upon the needs of the individual animal.

Wombats are our regular guests and they create a special need for ongoing maintenance and extra heavy duty patching up. Also new pens and enclosures are in constant demand.

Stage 1 - Room
A small quiet, heated room with heated pouches, special baskets for pinkies up to 800 grams and portable cots for quick pouch access and safe monitoring for approx. 800 gram babies.

There is a partitioned play area and log for chewing by the young ones up to 5 - 8 kg who are emerging from pouch at approx 8 months old. It is better to have pairs or more by this age as it minimises stress for the wombat and helps with less dependence on the human carer. Things start to liven up at night at this age and nocturnal instincts are developing meaning less sleep for carers due to loud bangs in the night. It is obviously time for stage 2.

Stage 2 - Pen
Outside training pen from 8 kg is a solid brick 2 x 2 metre room with a concrete roof to keep it cool in summer with a 2 X 2 metre adjoining outdoor dirt and log pen for training. This pen encourages digging and allows independence to develop. It is time to move to larger pen when juvenile wombat excavation begins. This pen also doubles as a hospital room for intensive care adult wombats as the room temperature can be kept to under 21 degrees celsius (70 Fahrenheit) on hottest of days. It's close proximity to the house means it is also easier to conduct 24 hour monitoring.

Stage 3 - Pen
The wire-floored pen is the next stage as they are still in training and nervous little feet want to burrow to hide - and they would dig their way out of sight. These wombats are bottle fed 1 -2 times a day depending upon age. The pen is 11 x 2 1/2 metres with a shelter made from a watertank one end and a brick 3 X 2 metre house at the other end. This brick house is double storey with the upstairs area used to release possums. The height helps keep the heat down for the wombats in summer. They prefer temperatures of about 17 degrees celsius (63 Fahrenheit) like it is underground in the bush where these noctural animals belong during the day. There is one metre high metal reinforcement on the door to stop adult wombats from breaking the door down as well as the very necessary wire-reinforced concrete floor.

This house is also a good rehabilitation area for injured adult wombats with a one-metre deep cement footing around the perimeter of pen. This pen is where we catch wombats for releasing! And sometimes we need it to catch hand-reared orphans. Injured adults can rehabilitate here for long periods without stressing too much as they have large enough room to roam. The 11 metres can be divided with a barrier gate if the animal is in need of immobilising. Injured wombats need intervention and monitoring so they need the concrete and wire floor to make sure they don't disappear down a burrow. It can be converted to two pens with independent housing - good if it is a busy time of year with lots of casualties.

Back to the young ones - they remain here as long as they are not stir crazy (for approximately 1 month). When they graduate to the next pen its too easy for them to go down the burrow and have us waiting all night outside the hole to check on them. Their natural instinct has kicked in now and they are starting to think "we don't need you humans any more"... well at least not for a few days. When the initial excitement wears off they usually emerge all sandy, hungry and full of ticks wanting to come into the house for almonds, oats, the odd bottle and of course - a cuddle. This means they are now need stage 4.

Stage 4 - Enclosure
This pen has natural coastal scrub in it with grazing and an old log to tunnel through. It is 23 X 8 metres, with an existing burrow which they all like to use at first. It can open onto stage 3 pen for housing but is generally only appreciated as a toilet at this age. It also offers extra roaming area and they remain here for approx 2 -3 months.

Stage 5 - Enclosure
This pen consists of large eucalyptus, wattles, sheoak, banksia, heath, tea tree, bracken, tussock, spear grass, sedges, and many other native grasses and ground covers. Here they usually dig themselves a new burrow, and go through their last stages of wilderness training to ready them for the big release day. They remain in this pen over the winter and spring - approx 7 to 8 months. Once again all pens are adjoining so if there are no other wombats in care, these young ones have the run of all the pens.

Stage 6 - Freedom in the bush
The Wombats are released before the heat of summer kicks in, depending upon needs and ages. It involves a bit of juggling of who's large enough and who's not getting too wild and dangerous for us carers. They need to be totally independent at the release stage and can attack us when we are in the pen. Hence it is time to go - with some relief and no tears from the carer .... well not too many.

Good release sites are hard to find - Ideally with no vehicles, no logging, no shooting or farming, no mange, fresh water and grazing and of course an unused burrow. These animals need up to 25 hectares (62 acres) to range so it needs a fair bit of research and driving around is needed to find new suitable places every year.

Other facilities
There is also a 14 x 3 1/2 metre flight aviary which was built in 2005 for a bruised Wedge Tailed Eagle in care for 4 weeks. It is made from hothouse hoops 3 metres (10 feet) high with shade cloth as these birds cannot be housed in wire as they may damage their flight feathers.

There is a 3 metre dry area which is now used by Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Wallabies which have been hand reared and released. They sometimes return for a rest and a supplementary feed.

Other cages are available for the occasional ringtail possum, sugar glider, echidna or bird. Fish tanks are needed for tiny animals like pigmy possums and feather tailed gliders that are smaller than a 50 cent piece. We can house lace monitors and snakes. There are also heavy duty transport cages for aggressive wombats.

Shelter Permit No: 12977001
© copyright 2006

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