Here the seals frolic in a natural pool secure in the knowledge that the Great White sharks can’t get at them. Still, you do get reasonably close in their natural habitat without disturbing the seals.Īlso on the southern coast of Australia’s Kangaroo Island is another seal colony. The area is so restricted that visitors can only view the seals with a guide. Today this Australian wildlife sanctuary supports a large colony of Australian sea lions and welcomes over 100,000 visitors. In 1954, Seal Bay, on the southern coast of Kangaroo Island, was declared a habitat protected zone and is now known as Seal Bay Conservation Park. Some species were hunted close to extinction. Where to stay in Tasmania Seal Bay Conservation ParkĮver since European settlers came to Australia, sea lions had been hunted for food, skin, and bait. Just for the efforts regarding the Tasmanian devil, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary ranks as one of the best wildlife sanctuaries in Australia. Now, between the Australian government and local animal sanctuaries like Bonorong, efforts are having some success addressing the disease and the Devil’s comeback is back on track. These poor guys just couldn’t catch a break. Just as things were looking up for this timid marsupial a fatal disease called devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) destroyed about 80% of the devil population. In 2008 the devil was classified as an endangered species and its numbers began to climb again as the wildlife sanctuaries began protecting them. Naturally, the local human population saw a stinky, fierce-looking, screeching creature as a threat and hunted it almost to extinction by the 1990s. He sometimes hunts but is basically a scavenger that eats everything bones, fur. Sounds like a real attractive guy! The devil has strong claws, frequently displays his fangs and emits a foul stench when it is stressed. Turns out it was just this local animal about the size of a small dog. He is called “devil” because when the first European settlers landed in Tasmania in 1822 they would hear frightening screeches at night that they imagined is what the devil sounded like. The Devil is a carnivorous marsupial native to the island of Tasmania off the southeastern coast of Australia. But the Tasmanian devil is the star attraction of this, or any, Australian wildlife tour. Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary is home to many animals and serves as a koala sanctuary as well as a kangaroo sanctuary.
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