Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Karakamia Sanctuary

Last night I was lucky enough to go for my second visit to Karakamia, a small mammal sanctuary near Chidlow. It's a fantastic place tovisit, to see some forest and some of Perth's small mammals. These mammals are quite endangered outside the sanctuary, in fact extinct in most of their natural habitat. Many of the animals survive only here or in places where they have been reintroduced from breeding stock starting at the site.
We saw woylies,a quenda and a brush-tail possum, but there are also small populations of numbats and other rare beauties.
Anyone can go there, it's a small fee to visit, and the guide will walk you around as a group, pointing out interesting facts about the country and the animals. The wlk starts before dusk, so you get to see the trees and the view across the valley, then as the sun goes down and the animals become active they use a spotlight torch to see them. Woylies are the most often seen. They are very cute, but not very clever, which would seem to be why they are so rare, through predation from cats and foxes.
Definitely worth a visit.
Visit the site at http://www.australianwildlife.org/karakamia.asp
You could even consider become a regular contributer to their fund, which buys large tracts of land with significant habitat to help save endangered species within their boundaries. It is very important work they do. Feral proof fencing alone would use a fair amount of their funds.
And you too might get to see some woylies.

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