By Renee Wood
The animals at Healesville Sanctuary have finally said hello to visitors, with the laid back Kangaroos and curious Dingoes enjoying the company.
Other animals like the Tasmanian Devil and her new triplets have also said hello to visitors for the first time.
Director Ross Williamson said the carers started getting the animals familiar with seeing people again before opening.
“Most of our animals hadn’t seen people for about 80 days and we had to go through a process of just getting them used to having people around,” he said.
“We were playing announcements over the PA system and asking people to walk through exhibits in plain clothes not in uniform, so that animals just gradually got used to different people.”
Some 850 visitors walked through the doors on the first day on Tuesday 26 October and then another 950 booked into explore the following day.
Mr Williamson said the Sanctuary is gradually increasing its booking numbers slowly before reaching maximum capacity next week.
“We’re starting off fairly quietly, we’ve got a cap on the numbers just for the rest of this week of 1,250, and then on Saturday we’re going up to 1,500. Then from the fifth of November, we’re going up to about 2,500 people so it’s a nice steady increase.”
Currently only the outdoor exhibits are available to visitors but on Saturday 30 October the indoor reptile and nocturnal enclosures will be opening and the ‘Spirits of the Sky’ bird presentation will be back on Friday November 5.
The Melbourne Cup long weekend coinciding with restrictions ending for metro and regional areas is expected to bring a welcomed boost to tourism traders in the region.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing a really busy December and January, particularly over the school holidays, which the Sanctuary is really at its best over that period.”
A series of live music events will also be held at on the grounds in coming weeks, inviting visitors to enjoy a picnic, live music and local producers goods on Saturdays from November 20 to 11 December and February 5 – 26 2022.
“We’re putting ‘Sundown at the Sanctuary’ on Saturday afternoons and that will be a really good attraction for people.”
Those visiting need to be aware of online booking requirements and Covid-safe practices, including social distancing, vaccination statuses and masks, there is also only EFTPOS transactions allowed at the moment.
