Yookamurra Sanctuary: In the Riverland region of South Australia
Arriving at Yookamurra Sanctuary you'd be forgiven for thinking this was Australia's Jurassic Park. And to some extent it is a step back in time. Prior to European settlement two thirds of the Australian continent was covered with mallee and here committed conservationists have gone to extraordinary lengths to recreate 1100 hectares of scrub as it once was. Yookamurra’s Park Fogarty explains:
“Yookamurra is surrounded by the world's largest feral proof fence. Thirteen kilometres of fence protects it from foxes, cats, rabbits, goats and sheep. As an Earth Sanctuary, Yookamurra is restoring the balance. Reintroducing unique Australian animals such as the Bilby, Woylie, Boodie and Numbat. Bet you didn't know half of those. We’re reintroducing them to an area that they once frequented.”
Opened by Earth Sanctuaries in 1992, Yookamurra has now been taken over by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and is a credit to those who spent nine months constructing a fence, which has certainly made the residents feel at home.
“That was quite a massive job and pretty good advertising for the Year of the Volunteer.”
During the day you can take in the subtle colours of the Mallee as you work your way through the self-guided walking trail. In the afternoon sun it all seems pretty quite but under each log and bush the locals are biding their time. The occasional Roo offers visitors from far afield a taste of what's on offer in this haven in the scrub.
As night falls the guests emerge from the Sanctuary's restaurant to watch others feed. Here the big and small have the run of the place and according to Park even the tiniest Bettong or Woylie, as the aborigines called them, can make itself heard.
“When they are a bit stressed they make a noise that sounds remarkably like flatulence. It's quite impressive. They move pretty too. You blink and they're gone. I consider them to be a bit like ‘red cordial kids’ - they always remind me of somebody who's had a little too much sugar.”
Sadly, the burrows explain why farmers were so keen to get rid of creatures like the strange looking Bilby.
“Usually you can spot the males because they'll be a bit scrappier. Through hierarchical arguments. The more openings they have in a burrow network the greater potential they have for survival. In the event of being attacked by a predator they have more openings to escape out of and a better chance of survival.”
Yookamurra is an aboriginal word meaning yesterday and here you get a sense of what life at ground level was like before the plough and the gun really took their toll.
“In the Adelaide Hills in the nineteen thirties they did a track and they were still catching more Bilbies than they were catching rabbits. Which is really quite sad.”
Years ago it was common to see hundreds of Bilbies, with their distinctive pink ears on the banks of the Torrens at what's now known as Pinky Flat. In fact that's how it got its name. Now, many have sadly gone the way of burrowing Bettong.
“Rymill Park used to be used as a popular place to course your dogs on Bettongs. You'd get a dozen of them for nine pence to release and that was considered to be Sunday family entertainment a hundred years ago. Coursing in those days was a bit like having a greyhound chasing an electric rabbit around a fence.
Now thankfully, they're safe here. But just a quick reminder that you might not be if you forget to lock you're cabin door at Yookamurra. Wilma the Wombat is known to pay a nocturnal visit as Park knows only too well.
Yookamurra is near Blanchtown, about a ninety-minute drive from Adelaide. To book contact 61 (0)8 8562 5011. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
