David Fleay Wildlife Park
Encyclopedia
The David Fleay Wildlife Park is located in Burleigh Heads
, a suburb of the Gold Coast
, Queensland
, Australia
. Established by Australian naturalist
David Fleay
in 1952, the Park today is home to many native animals
, which are displayed in surroundings similar to their natural habitats. Managed by the Environmental Protection Agency
, the Park aims to raise community awareness about the need to protect native animals, especially rare and threatened species
. The Park has a long tradition of breeding native animals and also includes an animal hospital
for sick, injured and orphaned animals.
After investigating areas around Brisbane
and South East Queensland
, Fleay selected the Tallebudgera Estuary as a suitable site for a fauna reserve in late 1951. He acquired land there for a reserve in 1952, and added further parcels of land to the reserve in 1958 and 1965. Fleay's Fauna Reserve, as it was originally known, was established as a place of scientific research and education. Platypus
es, snake
s, dingo
es, scrub turkeys
, osprey
s, crocodile
s and alligator
s lived at the sanctuary in "benevolent captivity", whilst bandicoot
s, bilby
s, flying foxes
, the endangered Eastern Bristlebird
s, white-breasted sea eagles, wallabies
and koala
s were free to come and go as they pleased.
In order to ensure the future survival of the sanctuary, David and Sigrid Fleay sold a large portion of the reserve (37 acres) to the Queensland Government in 1982, which became a Conservation Park
. The main area of the Fauna Reserve housing the animals (20 acres) was also sold to the Government the following year. The remainder of the site (7.5 acres) was transferred to the Government in 1985. David and Sigrid Fleay continued to live at Fleay's Wildlife Park following the transfer of ownership, where David continued his research and kept animals, such as kangaroo
s, emu
s, cassowaries
and his Galápagos tortoise
, Harriet
, largely in their original enclosures. The Park closed in 1983 for redevelopment, re-opening in 1988. David Fleay died on 7 August 1993. In October 1995, 7.4488ha of the site was gazetted as Fleay's Wildlife Park Conservation Park under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Qld) and today is operated by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
for the people of Queensland. The Park was re-named David Fleay Wildlife Park in 1997, in tribute to its founder.
Burleigh Heads, Queensland
Burleigh Heads is a suburb on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 Census, Burleigh Heads had a population of 7,606.Burleigh Heads is renowned for its surf break, and is an alternative to the more tourist ridden towns of the Gold Coast...
, a suburb of the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Established by Australian naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
David Fleay
David Fleay
David Howells Fleay was an Australian naturalist who pioneered the captive breeding of endangered species, and was the first person to breed the platypus in captivity....
in 1952, the Park today is home to many native animals
Fauna of Australia
The fauna of Australia consists of a huge variety of animals; some 83% of mammals, 89% of reptiles, 90% of fish and insects and 93% of amphibians that inhabit the continent are endemic to Australia...
, which are displayed in surroundings similar to their natural habitats. Managed by the Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland)
Queensland's Environmental Protection Agency was for some time a separate department of the Queensland Government, and, following 2009 State elections, became a part of the Government's larger Department of Environment and Resource Management.This part of the Department of Environment and...
, the Park aims to raise community awareness about the need to protect native animals, especially rare and threatened species
Threatened species
Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...
. The Park has a long tradition of breeding native animals and also includes an animal hospital
Animal Hospital
Animal Hospital was a television show starring Rolf Harris that ran on the BBC from 1994 until 2004. The story showed animal welfare stories from RSPCA hospitals.-Location:...
for sick, injured and orphaned animals.
After investigating areas around Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and South East Queensland
South East Queensland
South East Queensland is a region of the state of Queensland in Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population...
, Fleay selected the Tallebudgera Estuary as a suitable site for a fauna reserve in late 1951. He acquired land there for a reserve in 1952, and added further parcels of land to the reserve in 1958 and 1965. Fleay's Fauna Reserve, as it was originally known, was established as a place of scientific research and education. Platypus
Platypus
The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young...
es, snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s, dingo
Dingo
The Australian Dingo or Warrigal is a free-roaming wild dog unique to the continent of Australia, mainly found in the outback. Its original ancestors are thought to have arrived with humans from southeast Asia thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to...
es, scrub turkeys
Australian Brush-turkey
The Australian Brushturkey or Australian Brush-turkey, , also frequently called the Scrub Turkey or Bush Turkey, is a common, widespread species of mound-building bird from the family Megapodiidae found in eastern Australia from Far North Queensland to Illawarra in New South Wales...
, osprey
Osprey
The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...
s, crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
s and alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
s lived at the sanctuary in "benevolent captivity", whilst bandicoot
Bandicoot
Bandicoots are a group of about 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia.- Etymology :...
s, bilby
Bilby
Bilbies are desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores; they are members of the order Peramelemorphia. Before European colonisation of Australia, there were two species. One became extinct in the 1950s; the other survives but remains endangered....
s, flying foxes
Pteropus
Bats of the genus Pteropus, belonging to the megabat or Megachiroptera sub-order, are the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as the fruit bats or flying foxes among other colloquial names...
, the endangered Eastern Bristlebird
Eastern Bristlebird
The Eastern Bristlebird is a species of bird in the Bristlebird family Dasyornithidae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, and temperate grassland...
s, white-breasted sea eagles, wallabies
Wallaby
A wallaby is any of about thirty species of macropod . It is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo that has not been given some other name.-Overview:...
and koala
Koala
The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....
s were free to come and go as they pleased.
In order to ensure the future survival of the sanctuary, David and Sigrid Fleay sold a large portion of the reserve (37 acres) to the Queensland Government in 1982, which became a Conservation Park
Conservation park
Conservation park is a type of specially protected status for land held by the Crown for conservation purposes.In New Zealand this land is administered by the Department of Conservation and was set up under the Conservation Act 1987. As of 31 March 2005, New Zealand's Conservation parks consisted...
. The main area of the Fauna Reserve housing the animals (20 acres) was also sold to the Government the following year. The remainder of the site (7.5 acres) was transferred to the Government in 1985. David and Sigrid Fleay continued to live at Fleay's Wildlife Park following the transfer of ownership, where David continued his research and kept animals, such as kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
s, emu
Emu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
s, cassowaries
Cassowary
The cassowaries are ratites, very large flightless birds in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands and northeastern Australia. There are three extant species recognized today...
and his Galápagos tortoise
Galápagos tortoise
The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise is the largest living species of tortoise, reaching weights of over and lengths of over . With life spans in the wild of over 100 years, it is one of the longest-lived vertebrates...
, Harriet
Harriet
Harriet was a Galápagos tortoise who had an estimated age of 175 years at the time of her death in Australia...
, largely in their original enclosures. The Park closed in 1983 for redevelopment, re-opening in 1988. David Fleay died on 7 August 1993. In October 1995, 7.4488ha of the site was gazetted as Fleay's Wildlife Park Conservation Park under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Qld) and today is operated by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, or QPWS, is a sub-section of the Environmental Protection Agency within the Queensland government. Its primary concern is with the development and maintenance of national parks within Queensland.-External links:*...
for the people of Queensland. The Park was re-named David Fleay Wildlife Park in 1997, in tribute to its founder.
See also
- Protected areas of Queensland (Australia)
- Tourism in AustraliaTourism in AustraliaTourism is an important industry for the Australian economy. In the financial year 2009/10, the tourism industry represented 2.6% of Australia's GDP at a value of approximately A$34 billion to the national economy. Domestic tourism is a significant part of the tourism industry, and was...