Wildlife Wonders is a wildlife sanctuary in Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia. Wildlife Wonders can be visited by the public as an opportunity to experience a true Australian bushland environment on a nature walk with a conservationist guide.

Wildlife Wonders directly supports the ongoing environmental conservation of the Otways environment, through the parent organisation, the Conservation Ecology Centre and is Advanced Ecotourism certified by Ecotourism Australia.^[1]. The sanctuary is an Otways ecosystem free from predators, protected by a fox and cat proof fence^[2].

In 2022, the National Geographic's 'Best of the World' put Wildlife Wonders in the top Places to Enjoy Nature.

Wildlife Wonders is 5kms outside of Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia

History

Wildlife Wonders received approval from Colac Otway Shire in 2017 and commenced construction in 2018 with $1.5 million in Victorian state government support^[3]. Wildlife Wonders officially opened in February 2021. Conceived and founded by Lizzie Corke OAM and Shayne Neal of the Conservation Ecology Centre (CEC), an environmental NGO^[4]. The purpose behind Wildlife Wonders was to "create a model in which the CEC can engage people with the wonder of nature and generate funding to address our most urgent conservation challenges, which are not going away any time soon.” - Lizzie Corke OAM^[5].

Wildlife

• Koala - koalas are still relatively abundant in the Otways region, and the grounds of Wildlife Wonders offer them a safe haven^[6].
• Eastern Grey Kangaroo - there are several species of kangaroo. The kangaroos you’ll see at Wildlife Wonders are eastern grey kangaroos.
• Swamp Wallaby - smaller than a kangaroo and usually seen in bushy areas.
• Tasmanian Pademelons - very small nocturnal wallabies.
• Eastern Bettong - also known as Kangaroo Rat, they feed on fungi, seeds, roots and insects.
• Southern Brown Bandicoot - small, nocturnal marsupials with backwards-facing pouches.
• Long-nosed Potoroo - often confused with a bandicoot, but they hop like kangaroos.
• Sugar Glider - small, squirrel like animals and travel between treetops by gliding.
• Otway Black Snail - a carnivorous air-breathing land snail only found in the Otways.
• Feathertail Glider - their feather-like tails act as a rudder during flight and they can glide more than 25m between trees.
• Southern Boobook - smallest owl in Australia, also called a Mopoke.
• Laughing Kookaburra - iconic Australian birds with a distinct call that sounds like laughing.
• Superb Fairy-wren - males are easily spotted with their bright blue plumage.
• Gang-gang Cockatoo - can be seen frequently at Wildlife Wonders and they have a call like a creaking gate.
• Eastern Yellow Robin - robins’ nests are bound together with spiders’ webs and lined with fine material and leaves.
• Common Blue-tongued Lizard - a backyard favourite in Australia with bright blue tongues to scare off predators.
• Southern Brown Tree Frog - noisy but agile hunters, they will leap to catch insects in fight.
• Souther Right Whale - between May - November you may be lucky enough to spot one from Wildlife Wonders.

The making of Wildlife Wonders

Wildlife Wonders has been crafted and created by Brian Massey, an Art Director of ‘The Hobbit’ films, and landscape designer of New Zealand’s award winning Hobbiton experience^[7][8]

Every twist and turn in the path, every crafted piece of wood, every nook and open vista has been imagined and overseen by Brian, who has worked with a team of craftsmen led by Shayne Neal to bring this vision to life.

Designed to be hidden from view, 1.4km of fencing encloses an area of more than 30 acres, creating a safe haven for the bandicoots, potoroos, koalas and other native species, protected from the feral predators – cats and foxes – which would otherwise prey upon them and destroy habitats.

Wildlife Wonders as a Social Enterprise ^[9]

Wildlife Wonders, through their social enterprise ecotourism model, offers an alternate funding source for the work of the Conservation Ecology Centre.

References

https://wildlifewonders.org.au/the-sanctuary/

https://wildlifewonders.org.au/wild-lives/

https://wildlifewonders.org.au/our-story/the-making-of-wildlife-wonders/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/best-of-the-world-2022

https://wildlifewonders.org.au/our-story/social-enterprise/

https://www.conservationecologycentre.org/wildlifewonders/