CURRUMBIN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

When I was very young we would sometimes go to Palm Beach in Queensland for holidays. This was because I had a grand-uncle who lived there. My memories of these holidays include the long drive from Sydney, the sand modelling on the beach, the religious revival groups which seemed to always be camped there, melon and pineapple jam, promite, chicken pox (we all had it one summer) and blue bottle stings. However the most lasting memory is of going to the bird sanctuary at Currumbin. Here lorikeets would descend from the trees and land on your head and arms and feed from metal plates containing a mixture of bread and honey. It was maybe this more than anything else that gave me a life long love of birds.

The story of the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary begins in 1947 when beekeeper and flower grower Alex Griffiths began feeding the wild lorikeets to distract them from damaging his flower crop. At first this attracted local attention but soon grew into a popular tourist stop. In 1976 Alex made a gift of the sanctuary to the people of Queensland as a National Trust Property. In 1994 he also purchased a 4 ha rainforested property and donated it to the sanctuary. Alex Griffiths died in July 1998 but his extraordinary gift continues to flourish and attract visitors and tourists every year.

The sanctuary was originally known as the Currumbin Bird Sanctuary but as the park established a more diverse collection of reptiles and mammals, as well as birds, the name was changed to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in 1995 . It now houses one of the biggest collections of Australian wildlife species in the world. It continues to be run by the National Trust of Queensland on a non-profit basis. All revenue generated from the park goes back into its upkeep, to conservation research, to caring for sick and injured animals and to educating the public about Australian wildlife.

The park is set on 27 ha of land in the Queensland Gold Coast. It is surrounded by bushland. There are over 1400 mammals, reptiles and birds It is operated by 64 full-time and part-time staff. Other attraction include a miniature railway, which was added in 1964, the Tasmanian Devil enclosure, crocodile feeding and handling(a 5.3 metre croc), the snake and reptile show and the largest walk-through aviary in the southern hemisphere.

Eighteen months ago the park added an animal hospital. It is serviced by 4 vets and caters for over 4,000 animals a year. Recent patients at the hospital include a swan which was run over by a jet ski and a 3 metre long python. The hospital is expensive to run. For example the python cost the park $15,000 to look after. It has now laid 32 eggs.The hospital also caters for injured native animals and birds brought in from outside the park. A large proportion of the mammals at the park are nocturnal so the park also run a night program. The night program includes an Aussi barbeque.

The park has an added attraction, the Green Challenge. This is a high ropes and obstacle course. It provides a tough work out and is designed to build an individuals confidence. It includes a popular Tarzan swing.The course can be utilized by organizations and companies as a team building exercise for employees and staff members. For children there is Wild Island. Here children can experience what it is like for animals to survive in the wild. It has proven extremely popular with children.

Over 30,000 school students visit the sanctuary each year. Many Australian and overseas tourists make this a stop on their travels. One tourist site I looked at suggested this was a perfect start for a wildlife tour of Australia's top end. I know the impact this had on me when I was young. Given a chance to take young people to Movie World or Currumbin it is an easy choice.......

EMU FARMS

The emu, which features on the Australian coat of arms, is Australia's largest bird. It can grow up to two metres tall and an adult bird can weigh over 50 kgs. It can't fly but can run at speeds of nearly 50 kilometres an hour. The emu can also swim. The eggs are incubated by the male, who also rears the young. Emus were hunted and eaten by the Aborigines and feature in many rock paintings and later bark paintings. The emu appears in many Aboriginal dreamtime stories and more recently in children's story-books, art works and even songs. It's feathers have been used to decorate the hats of some Australian soldiers, although those serving overseas used to describe them as 'kangaroo feathers'. The emu is not on any endangered species list and in some areas is considered a pest. In the picture below the emu is the emblem for the Orange Emus Rugby Club.

Although hunting and eating emus is not a new thing in Australia the commercial farming of emus is. In the 1970s an Aboriginal group were allowed to capture 400 emus from the wild and experiment with farming them for for their skins. In 1987 the offspring of these initial birds were used to establish other farms and hence the current emu farming industry has grown. However the bird is not only bred for its leathery skin but also for its meat, eggs, feathers and emu oil.

Emus are suitable to most climatic conditions found in Australia and being soft footed they do little damage to the soil. There is a strict code of practice as to how the birds should be treated and the farms managed. No birds are allowed to be taken from the wild and there are strict fencing requirements to prevent the escape of birds as well as to stop wild birds getting onto the farms.

On the farms the birds lay around forty eggs a year. Once they are hatched the young are kept in a shed at night until the stage where they lose their stripes, around 3 months. At the age of about fourteen months the birds become large enough to be slaughtered and used for a number of products.

Emu leather is soft and because the area around the feather follicles is raised, when tanned it gives a neat dot pattern. This is used for hand bags, boots, wallets and clothing. It is also sort after by craft workers. The leather around the emu's leg is similar to snake or crocodile leather in appearance and so is used for belts and watch bands.

Emu meat is gamey in flavour (no not like chicken) and contains less than 0.05% cholesterol. However it seems to have found more acceptance in Europe rather than Australia. Emu steaks and emu pies still seem to fall into the novelty category here.

While the eggs can and have been eaten the birds do not lay regularly enough to make the farming of them viable(If I was trying to pass something that size out of my rear end I would not want to be doing it often or regularly either). Of course not a lot of households need the equivalent of a dozen hen eggs every morning. The eggs are sort after for carving and for jewellery.

One product which has gained in acceptance and popularity is emu oil. Australian Aborigines have used the oil for thousands of years to treat aches and pains. Now the oil has become mainstream as science supports the claims being made about it. The oil is able to penetrate deeply and is naturally anti inflammatory. It is particularly useful in the treatment of pain associated with arthritis. Emu oil can also be used to treat eczema and other skin conditions. The oil can be rubbed on externally or taken internally as capsules. The oil has also been used in cosmetic and skin care products.

The Try-It Emu Farm at Marburg in Queensland (where most of these photographs were taken) also sells a unique product in the form of 'cartilage powder' called Osteo Be Gone. After studying the benefits of shark cartilage the farm at Marburg came up with a world first Emu cartilage powder which helps in treating arthritis and cartilage degeneration. The powder contain all of the essential 18 amino acid,chondroitin sulphate, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron and copper.

The farm at Marburg has been in operation for the past 17 years. They now have over 2,000 birds and have spent the last four years building up stock and developing new products. They are processing birds again now. Beside oil and cartilage powder they sell emu meat, feathers (for decoration and craft, and to the Australian army) and blown emu eggs. Only blown eggs are sold so that the fertile eggs can not be incubated and hatched. To breed emus a person requires a license.