John Creighton has spent much of his life studying and caring for bare-nosed wombats.<\/p>\n
He can imitate the sounds made by the Australian marsupial and knows their behaviour.<\/p>\n
Mr Creighton, a renowned wombat carer, also loves showing videos he has made highlighting their intelligent, playful nature.<\/p>\n
“Kids are gobsmacked, they’ve never seen wombats playing or interacting in these ways,” he said.<\/p>\n
“These are the ones that have been rescued from roadsides, and those videos change minds.<\/p>\n
“If we were able to take them to a classroom and show them these videos, what you’d see is them interacting and really connecting with people.”<\/p>\n
Peter Lewis and John Creighton are in the process of confirming a site to build a sanctuary in Bundanoon. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)<\/p>\n
Mr Creighton has teamed up with businessman and philanthropist Peter Lewis to make that vision a reality.<\/p>\n
The two men are leading a project to create the Southern Highlands Wildlife Sanctuary at Bundanoon in the New South Wales Southern Highlands.<\/p>\n
“It won’t be just wombats or wildlife, it will be flora, and the location is perfect for Bundanoon,” Mr Creighton said.<\/p>\n
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The area where the site will be based is already home to a variety of wildlife, including kangaroos. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)<\/p>\n
The pair hopes to purchase a block of land from a developer that has a corridor to the Morton National Park, potentially the main site for the sanctuary.<\/p>\n
The project includes plans for a wildlife rehabilitation facility and research centre on the main site, and an education classroom at Bundanoon’s Quest for Life Foundation.<\/p>\n
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John Creighton is excited at the prospect of having a permanent facility to do his wildlife work. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)<\/p>\n
The men are currently raising funds and seeking government support to finance the buildings.<\/p>\n
“Schools have been asking for this for a long time,” Mr Creighton said.<\/p>\n
The odd couple<\/p>\n
Mr Lewis met Mr Creighton after finding a wombat with mange on his Southern Highlands property.<\/p>\n
Mr Creighton answered the call for help, and they spoke almost uninterrupted for an entire day about their shared passion for the environment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wildlife carer John Creighton with a wombat. (Facebook: Southern Highlands Wildlife Sanctuary)<\/p>\n
“My early career was in engineering and manufacturing, and I spent a lot of time in business, so it [the partnership with Mr Creighton] does seem a bit of an odd fit,” Mr Lewis said.<\/p>\n
“But we all have a responsibility to care and leave our nature better than what it was before and when you live amongst it, you see the deficits.”<\/p>\n
Their conversation led to the dream of creating a new wildlife sanctuary for the Southern Highlands and restoring the local population of one of Australia’s most loved marsupials.<\/p>\n
Ambitious plan to boost koala numbers<\/p>\n
Like many parts of Australia, Bundanoon was once a thriving area for koalas.<\/p>\n
But according to NSW BioNet, which holds biodiversity data and is managed by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, the only record of koalas in the nearby Morton National Park was recorded in 2016.<\/p>\n
That was prior to the devastating bushfires of 2019-’20.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mr Lewis says the Morton National Park has lost its once-vibrant koala population. (ABC New England North West: Donal Sheil)<\/p>\n
Mr Lewis and Mr Creighton have set themselves the goal of restoring the area’s koala population.<\/p>\n
“Translocation is the way, and we’ve identified some populations that may work for us,” Mr Lewis said.<\/p>\n
Peter Lewis is working with scientists to ensure a successful translocation of koalas into the Morton National Park. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)<\/p>\n
“We’re looking at the barriers to entry \u2014 things like the genetic profile of koalas to resist the stress of translocation, to acclimatise them to the trees they’ll source their food from and to make sure they’re disease free.<\/p>\n
“We have an advisory board of professors working with us to develop the program and we’re confident in the next three years we’ll be ready to start the process to release.”<\/p>\n