MOONLIT Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park, Pearcedale, celebrated its 20th anniversary on Friday, 17 September with treats for the resident animals.
Despite lockdown, keepers served up “cakes” for koalas, dingoes, wombats and emu to mark two decades of bringing people and wildlife together.
Life sciences manager Lisa Tuthill said such ingredients as sweet potato, meat or insects, “can serve as a great source of nutritional and behavioural enrichment”.
The sanctuary grew from the childhood dreams of Michael Johnson into a place where people could experience and appreciate the rare and unusual animals that roam the bush.
It was established by the Johnson family on 10-hectares of what was a farm and pony club. Now it is home to more than 400 animals representing 70 species.
The sanctuary initially ran night tours to the public, hence the name Moonlit Sanctuary.
In 2007, the sanctuary began opening during the day, increasing the number of animals and recording 80,000 visitors a year. Before COVID-19 closures, the sanctuary was seeing about 150,000 visitors annually and it is still proving to be a favourite day out.
“We are honouring this major milestone and are grateful to the community who helped us get there,” Mr Johnson said. “We are elated to be celebrating our role in connecting people with wildlife since the sanctuary first opened 20 years ago.”
