Margaret Young and Peter Hayes are the owners of Wordwood, a property situated in Perseverance, approximately 30km northeast of Toowoomba, Queensland. The property is a home and dedicated wildlife sanctuary and the owners intend to maintain it as such, with plans to develop bush cabin accommodation for tourism in the future. The property is additionally registered with Land for Wildlife.
Wordwood covers approximately 16 hectares and backs onto Perseverance Creek. The property is surrounded by bush blocks and is situated close to Crows Nest National Park. Vegetation is largely characterised by eucalypt woodland, featuring pink bloodwood (Corymbia intermedia), narrow-leaved ironbark (Eucalyptus crebra), tallowwood (E. microcorys) and grey gum (E. propinqua), interspersed with Allocasuarina and Acacia species. The understory is comprised of native grasses including kangaroo (Themeda triandra) and bushy hedgehog (Echinopogon caespitosus) grass along with a wide array of native orchids.
Wildlife is abundant and includes koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), squirrel gliders (Petaurus norfolcensis), yellow-footed antechinus (Antechinus flavipes), northern brown bandicoots (Isoodon macrourus) and dingoes (Canis lupus dingo).
An array of birdlife is also present, notably glossy-black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lathami), white-headed pigeons (Columba leucomela), eastern yellow robins (Eopsaltria australis), pied cormorants (Phalacrocorax varius), forest kingfishers (Todiramphus macleayii), white-throated treecreepers (Cormobates leucophaea), Australian owlet nightjars (Aegotheles cristatus), buff-rumped thornbills (Acanthiza reguloides), rose robins (Petroica rosea), red-browed finches (Neochmia temporalis), white-naped honeyeaters (Melithreptus lunatus) and varied sitellas (Daphoenositta chrysoptera).
