Wildlife Land Trust / Sanctuaries / NSW / The Oasis Apartments and Treetop Houses

Gerard Gallagher is the property manager of The Oasis Apartments and Treetop Houses, a property situated in Byron Bay, New South Wales. The property houses self-contained holiday apartments and resort-style facilities on tropical gardens, and is a wildlife-friendly sanctuary as well as a tourist accommodation. Gerard has plans to improve the existing gardens for the benefit of visitors and wildlife alike and is currently developing a wildlife classification program for guests to assist with monitoring local native species.

The Oasis Apartments and Treetop Houses spans 6 hectares and features largely tropical native vegetation. The property borders Arakwal National Park to the east and is close to Tallow Beach.

An abundance of wildlife is present on the property including Keferstein’s tree frogs (Litoria dentata), green tree frogs (Litoria caerulea), eastern water dragons (Intellagama lesueurii), lace monitors (Varanus varius), bearded dragons (Pogona barbata), Burton’s legless lizards (Lialis burtonis), carpet pythons (Morelia spilota), red-bellied black snakes (Pseudechis porphyriacus), eastern brown snakes (Pseudonaja textilis), marsh snakes (Hemiaspis signata), green tree snakes (Dendrelaphis punctulatus) and yellow-faced whip snakes (Demansia psammophis).

Birdlife is varied, and includes powerful owls (Ninox strenua), tawny frogmouths (Podargus strigoides), brush turkeys (Alectura lathami), yellow-tailed black cockatoos (Zanda funerea), masked lapwings (Vanellus miles), Lewin’s (Meliphaga lewinii) and blue-faced (Entomyzon cyanotis) honeyeaters, little friarbirds (Philemon citreogularis), Australasian figbirds (Sphecotheres vieilloti), pied currawongs (Strepera graculina), laughing kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae), rainbow bee-eaters (Merops ornatus), bar-shouldered doves (Geopelia humeralis), superb (Malurus cyaneus) and variegated (Malurus lamberti) fairy-wrens, Torresian crows (Corvus orru), rosellas (Platycercus spp.) and native pigeons.