Funding Boost Brings Hope to Endangered Species

The Honourable Sussan Ley, Minister for the Environment, visited Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and Hospital in December to announce the the exciting news that $802,000 will be injected into breeding programs for the Kroombit Tinkerfrog and the Eastern Bristlebird. This financial backing is part of the Australian Government’s $4 million Environmental Bushfire Recovery Funding.
 
“We are funding on-ground action in south-east Queensland fire-affected regions and we are investing in captive breeding programs to ensure the populations of some our most at-risk species,” Minister Ley said.
 
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary has been advocating for funding to further develop these programs and is delighted that this important work is receiving support and recognition from the Australian Government.
 
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary’s General Manager Michael Kelly said, “It’s recognition that we have a key role to play in conservation. We’ve got a good market to be advocates for our native species, especially those in crisis.”
 
Thanks to the tireless efforts of our dedicated team, we have made significant developments in both our Kroombit Tinkerfrog and Eastern Bristlebird breeding programs this year.

Tinkerfrogs
CONSERVATION STATUS: Critically endangered
 
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary has successfully bred the highly endangered Kroombit Tinkerfrog in captivity for the first time!
 
The tadpoles have begun to hatch, and we celebrated the history-making moment when the first of the tadpoles transformed into a tiny froglet. It’s a win two years in the making; the Sanctuary began working in collaboration with the Queensland Park and Wildlife Service in 2018. We will continue this breeding program, raising Kroombit Tinkerfrog for release to the wild, to save this ancient species from extinction.
 
“These funds will go towards animal husbandry and our future release plan,” says Anthony Molyneux, Wildlife Manager at the Sanctuary. “It’s doubling our capacity to release into the wild.”

Eastern Bristlebirds
CONSERVATION STATUS (northern population): Critically endangered
 
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary has been working to save the northern population of the Eastern bristlebird, with numbers less than 40 in the wild. We hold the only captive breeding population in Australia. Every chick is a precious step closer to attaining our goal of breeding enough offspring to release back to the wild and bolster ailing wild populations.
 
Keepers have to lend a hand with the rearing of chicks when female birds are inexperienced. This ensures that each precious chick survives to adulthood to join the breeding stock. Hand rearing is a time-consuming process with young chicks, requiring hand feeding hourly from dawn to late night. It’s certainly a labour of love, but this year it was well worth the effort. Breeding season spans throughout summer, so we hope there will be many more mouths to feed.

 
Mr Molyneux says, “This funding allows us to establish 10 – 12 breeding pairs, enough to eventually start releasing into the wild, and doing genetic rescue so that we have nice, robust genetics to release into the wild.”
 
Thanks to the support of the Australian government, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary can continue our dedicated work on these two programs, along with 13 others. Right here on the Gold Coast, our team fights to protect and preserve some of the most unique and threatened species in the world.