Trowunna Wildlife Park

Left Thursday for a whirlwind tour of Cradle Mountain. Drive there via Mole Creek, passing the Mole Creek Holiday Village where I stayed on my own trip to Mole Creek a few weeks back. 

A little devil. Yes, they are cute.

Remember the giant mole (aka Tasmanian Devil)? That was at the Trowunna Wildlife Park. Although I skipped it on my earlier trip, Sam and I stopped at on our way to Cradle Mountain.

Feeding time. Tonight we are serving haunch of wombat.

Great place! They are kind of a combination wildlife rescue / research facility. They specialize in Tasmanian Devils which they raise in captivity. They are now into their 11th generation of devils going back some 30 years. Although they have had a few cases of the virus which is devastating the Tasmanian Devil population in the wild, they have managed to work through that and have a population that is healthy and uninfected.

Wombat Sam. (It pooped on him right after this picture was taken.)

They also rescue wombats, mainly the babies of mothers who have been hit and killed on the highways. The babies initially have a high level of human contact (they need that nurturing that they would otherwise get from their mothers), but gradually get moved into areas with no human contact and then are released into the wild.

Koalas too, but not too many.

And several birds, although these are injured ones that will never be released back into the wild. Although the birds do breed, and their progeny live in the forests around the reserve and think of it as home. I had never heard of wedge-tailed eagles, but they have some.

Time for dinner?

And kangaroos. They just roam free on the property, which visitors are free to roam.