IT BEGAN as a celebration of the birth of a baby to Brush-tailed rock wallabies Paxton and Tahli as it was the first time the vulnerable species of macropods had bred at the Ipswich Nature Centre.
Now it’s expanded to a celebration of Spring in recognition of a raft of new babies and new species that can be found at the Centre.
Environment and Sustainability Committee Chair Councillor Russell Milligan said spring has well and truly arrived with several babies across many species now calling Ipswich Nature Centre home.
“I am delighted to announce the arrival of several babies at the Ipswich Nature Centre including a brush-tailed rock wallaby joey who has just started popping its face out of its mother’s pouch,” Cr Milligan said.
“It is a wonderful time of the year to visit the centre and see the baby birds, joeys and you can even spot the odd flying fox pup at the moment also.”
The brush-tailed rock wallaby pair arrived from Waterfall Springs Wildlife Sanctuary on the central coast of NSW in June, as part of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) Species Management Program and the National Recovery Plan.
Populations of the brush-tailed rock wallaby occur, or did occur, throughout the Great Dividing Range from the border with NSW to Nanango with 17 percent of the total population occurring in South East Queensland.
Another addition to the Ipswich Nature Centre is two chatty cape barren geese.
These almost-grown-up goslings arrived when they were one day old in July.
They can often be seen sharing an enclosure with the brush-tailed rock wallabies or swamp wallabies where their days are spent grazing on the grass after being fed twice daily on a mix of grain and crumble, grasses, greens, peas, grated carrot, alfalfa and insects.
When they are old enough, they will be moved to the large pond within the middle of the Centre where they will eat grasses and tussocks.
There are many babies also in the free flight aviary and while the nature centre does house three female bush-stone curlews in there, a number of wild bush-stone curlews also live around the grounds.
They are not as easy to see but are most definitely heard with their eerie call.
Two of these wild curlews have recently welcomed twin chicks.
There is also a wild population of flying foxes currently residing at the Ipswich Nature Centre and they have also expanded their roost recently with several pups now clinging to their mothers.
Temporary entrances to the Ipswich Nature Centre and Nerima Gardens have been established on Goleby Avenue after parts of the nature centre and gardens have been closed due to the wild flying fox roost.
