Tag:australian animals
Situated in the rural heartland of New South Wales, Australia, Altina Wildlife Park is a unique sanctuary that offers a blend of conservation, education, and immersive wildlife experiences.
Historical Background
Altina Wildlife Park was founded in 2004 by Gino and Gloria Altin. The couple’s passion for animals and experiences visiting game reserves and zoos in Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Zambia inspired them to establish the park. It is situated near Darlington Point and covers approximately 207 hectares of land along the banks of the Murrumbidgee River.
Originally intended as a private collection of exotic and native animals, the park later opened its doors to the public. It focuses on wildlife conservation and provides educational opportunities. The park’s distinctive approach to wildlife management and visitor engagement sets it apart from traditional zoos.
Altina Wildlife Park offers safari-style tours. These tours allow visitors to see animals in large, open-range enclosures resembling their natural habitats. This approach improves animal welfare and offers visitors a more immersive and educational experience.
Conservation Efforts
Altina Wildlife Park is dedicated to conservation. The park participates in breeding programs to protect endangered species and preserve genetic diversity. One of the main focuses at Altina is the Scimitar-horned Oryx, which was declared extinct in the wild in the early 2000s. Through its breeding program, Altina has contributed to the international effort to reintroduce these animals into their natural habitats.
Altina is also committed to conserving endangered species such as the African Painted Dog, Maned Wolf, and Przewalski’s Horse. The park collaborates with other zoos and wildlife parks to participate in breeding programs to ensure these species’ survival. In addition to these efforts, Altina also focuses on conserving native Australian wildlife, including the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Red Kangaroo, and Emu. By showcasing these animals, Altina aims to raise awareness about the threats facing native wildlife and the importance of preserving Australia’s unique biodiversity.
Educational Programs
Education is a crucial part of Altina Wildlife Park’s mission. The park offers various educational programs tailored to engage and inspire visitors of all ages. These programs aim to deepen our understanding of wildlife conservation and our role in protecting the environment.
One educational initiative at Altina is the Junior Keeper Program. The program gives children hands-on experience in animal care and conservation, allowing them to work alongside zookeepers and learn about the park’s daily operations. Participants gain valuable insights into animal behaviour, nutrition, and habitat management, fostering a sense of responsibility and stewardship towards wildlife.
Visitor Experience
Altina Wildlife Park offers visitors a distinctive and immersive experience, setting it apart from traditional zoos. The park provides safari-style tours in custom-built horse-drawn carts or motorised vehicles. This approach allows guests to explore the expansive enclosures and observe animals in a more natural setting, enhancing the visitor experience and minimising animal stress.
One of Altina’s main attractions is seeing rare and exotic animals up close. The park is home to various species, such as lions, tigers, giraffes, and rhinoceroses. The spacious, open-range enclosures allow these animals to roam freely, giving visitors a glimpse into their natural behaviours and social interactions. However, wire fences are still at the front of the larger animal enclosures, and you can’t approach the enclosure to shoot through the wires. It’s a tad difficult if photographing is your main aim.
In addition to the safari tours, Altina offers a variety of animal encounters and behind-the-scenes experiences. Visitors can participate in feeding sessions to hand-feed animals such as giraffes and camels.
Impact on Local and Global Scales
Altina’s conservation efforts have significant global impacts. The park participates in international breeding programs and collaborates with other wildlife organisations to combat species extinction worldwide. The successful breeding and potential reintroduction of species like the Scimitar-horned Oryx demonstrate the positive outcomes of these collaborative conservation efforts. Altina’s educational programs also have a broader impact by raising awareness about conservation issues and inspiring future generations of conservationists.
Challenges and Future Directions
Despite its successes, Altina Wildlife Park faces several challenges. The ongoing threat of climate change poses a significant risk to wildlife globally, and the park must continually adapt its strategies to mitigate these impacts. Maintaining genetic diversity within captive populations is also complex, requiring careful management and international cooperation.
Looking ahead, Altina Wildlife Park is committed to expanding its conservation and education efforts. Plans include developing new exhibits and facilities to enhance the visitor experience and support more extensive breeding programs. The park also aims to increase its focus on in-situ conservation projects, working directly in the field to protect endangered species and their habitats.
As Austen Tayshus said in his comedy single, ‘How much can a koala bear?” the sad truth is, “not much more”. Koalas are in crisis, with the situation now extremely dire. Between 2018 to 2021, the koala population suffered a dramatic 30% drop. That the koala could become extinct is unthinkable, but it’s an all too real possibility.
An Iconic Species At The Crossroads
Found only in Australia, the koala is one of the world’s most iconic species. However, this once-thriving marsupial has been brought to the brink of extinction by disease, culling, habitat loss, climate change and government apathy. In 2012 the government listed the koala as “vulnerable” in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (the ACT). The classification was upgraded to ‘endangered’ in 2021.
Despite the endangered classification, land clearing of the koala habitats in the name of development continue. Bushfires in 2019 – 2020 created the perfect storm for the koala. A 2021 report to the NSW government found that koalas in NSW will be extinct in the wild by 2050 unless there is urgent action. Consequently, the NSW government has upgraded the classification from ‘vulnerable’ to ‘endangered’.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report found that the bushfires of 2019 to 2020 killed an estimated 61,000 koalas across Australia. An alarming 41,000 perished on Kangaroo Island alone. That figure is doubly tragic considering that the koalas of Kangaroo Island are the only disease-free Koalas in Australia.
Did they really kill koalas?
As unfathomable as it is, they did. Koalas, in the late 1800s, were considered fair game. As a result, licensed killing allowed koalas to be hunted for their pelts across Queensland (Qld), New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and South Australia (SA). After a public outcry, NSW, Victoria and SA banned the practice in the early 1900s. However, in Qld, it continued until 1927. By then, Qld had almost driven the koala to extinction.
In 1919 the Qld Government announced a six-month open season on Koalas. In that six-month season, 1 million Koalas were killed. By 1924 Koalas were extinct in South Australia, severely depleted in NSW, and estimates for Victoria were as low as 500 individuals. At this time, the focus of the fur trade moved north to Queensland.
Open Season
In the weeks leading up to August 1927, the Queensland Government collected licence fees from 10,000 hopeful koala hunters. This was in order to to boost rural employment and in response to reports of uncontrollable koala populations. The furs were popular in the coat, glove and hat industries in the United States. This led to restrictions being lifted. The acting Queensland premier of the time, William Forgan Smith, then declared an “open season” on August 1, 1927
ABC News
In August 1927 alone, 600,000 – 800,000 koalas were killed. Koala pelts fetched 56 shillings and 9 pence per dozen. The backlash of the wholesale killing of koalas helped oust the Labor party from office in the next elections in 1927. Almost eight million koalas were killed for their pelts between 1888 and 1927. Due to public outrage, all states declared the koala a ‘protected species by the late 1930s. However, no laws have been enacted to protect the gum trees that the koala relies upon for survival.
2013 Cape Otway Cull
Additionally, in 2013 – 2014 the Victorian Government allowed the secret culling of almost 700 koalas at Cape Otway on the Great Ocean Road. The Koalas were pulled out of trees, assessed and given a lethal injection. Held in secret, no details were released until the Australian Newspaper revealed the news. However, supporters of the cull claimed it was necessary and done humanely, as many koalas were starving to death due to lack of food.
“It got to the point where there were no leaves left on the trees they were literally falling out of trees due to starvation.”
Dr Desley Whisson, a koala expert from Deakin University, told 3AW Radio
Kangaroo Island Koalas
The koala was introduced to Kangaroo Island (KI) in 1920 as part of a plan to stop the species from becoming extinct on the mainland. Instead, they flourished on KI, and the population grew to 27,000. However, it wasn’t long before the Natural Resources Committee (NRC) in SA saw a problem and, in 2019, called for a cull. The committee also advocated a cull of corellas, fur seals and other native animals before reaching “unmanageable levels”.
The NRC recommended the government declare certain species overabundant and consider giving local councils the power to cull the native animals. A community backlash, however, saw the idea dumped. Fast forward twelve short months, and the Kangaroo Island bushfires decimated the koala population. With a loss of approximately 41,000 koalas on KI due to the fires, had the cull gone ahead the year before, it begs the question – would KI have any koalas left?
“Koalas have gone from no-listing to vulnerable to endangered within a decade. That is a shockingly fast decline,”
Conservation scientst Stuart Blanch WWF Australia
Threats to Koalas
The main threat to the koala is loss of habit due to tree clearing and climate change. Tree clearing and destruction of bushland continue to escalate. NSW repealed tree clearing controls in 2017, tripling the clearing in one area of northwest NSW and doubling the area cleared around Narrabri, Dubbo and the Hunter Valley.
Habitat destruction causes mass suffering, injury and death to native wildlife to the point it must be considered cruel. However, because it is largely invisable and occurs far from the public gaze, public recognition of the wild animal welfare crisis is low
Animal Welfare Impacts
Tree clearing impact
Native animals are not cleared from areas about to be felled. Animals living in the trees when they are bulldozed are often killed outright. Those who survive suffer terrible injuries, either from falling to the ground or being crushed by trees. Habitat fragmentation forces koalas to spend more time on the ground moving from tree to tree. This puts them at greater risk of being hit by cars and attacked by dogs.
Meanwhile, elevated stress levels make them prone to sickness and diseases like chlamydia. There is also increasing evidence that climate change reduces nutrient levels in Eucalyptus leaves. The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) is dedicated to effectively managing and conserving the koala and its habitat. They plant trees on farms and private land creating new habitats for koalas.
The current koala population of Australia today has fallen to an estimated 32,000 – 58,000, a mere 1% of what was killed in Qld, August 1927. So, the AKF is mounting a Save the Koala campaign calling NSW politicians to act. CLICK HERE to join the ‘koala army’ or support the Koala Protection Act.