Recovering from last summer’s bush fires, Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve has welcomed the return of four Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies to their home and the reopening of the Reserve’s visitor’s centre.
Minister for Environment and Heritage, Mick Gentleman said the wallabies’ return was the first of many, with 17 set to come home to Tidbinbilla in the coming weeks.
“The wallabies, which are part of Tidbinbilla’s threatened species recovery program, were evacuated in January by Australia Defence Force aircraft to a conservation and research reserve at Mt Rothwell, Victoria,” Mr Gentleman said.
“There are fewer than 100 Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies estimated left in the wild,” he said.
“Tidbinbilla is an important stronghold for this species and has approximately 70 per cent of Australia’s conservation breeding population.”
Mr Gentleman said protecting Tidbinbilla’s wallabies from the fires was crucial to continuing the work to reintroduce the species back into the wild.
“It is exciting to welcome them home and return to work on the breeding and conservation programs,” he said.
“Catching and safely transporting these animals to Tidbinbilla is a delicate operation involving many weeks of careful planning and coordination by Mt Rothwell, Victorian and ACT Government staff.”
He said the team at Tidbinbilla had spent the last couple of months carefully monitoring for predators and preparing the site for the wallabies’ return.
Mr Gentleman said the Tidbinbilla Visitor Information Centre had reopened after being closed most of the year following the fires and in response to COVID-19.
