Amy and Owen Langley are the owners of Wallaby Gully, a property located approximately 35km west of Townsville. The property is a dedicated wildlife sanctuary which is free from predators and adjoins other like-minded, wildlife-friendly properties. It is Amy and Owen’s intent to continue to utilise the property for conservation purposes, including the rehabilitation and release of wildlife. Amy holds a rehabilitation permit for macropods, birds and reptiles from the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.
Wallaby Gully covers approximately 4.9 hectares of gently sloping grassland with two dams and a creek running through the property. Vegetation includes a variety of eucalypts, native grasses and bottle brushes with riparian vegetation along a rocky creek gorge and a small wetland.
Wildlife species known to inhabit the area include swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), agile wallabies (Macropus agilis), pretty-face wallabies (Macropus parryi), common wallaroos (Macropus robustus), eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae), northern brown bandicoots (Isoodon macrourus), rufous bettongs (Aepyprymnus rufescens), short-beaked echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus), and ringtail (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) and brush tail (Trichosurus vulpecula) possums. Wallaby Gully is also home to a wide variety of bird species including kingfishers (Todiramphus spp.), Australian king parrots (Alisterus scapularis), pale-headed rosellas (Platycercus adscitus), blue-winged kookaburras (Dacelo leachii), butcherbirds (Cracticus spp.), rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus moluccanus), channel billed cuckoos (Scythrops novahollandiae), spoon bills (Platalea spp.), glossy black (Calyptorhynchus lathami) and sulphur crested (Cacatua galerita) cockatoos and budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). A number of reptiles also inhabit the property including snake-necked tortoises (Chelodina Longicollis), frilled neck lizards (Chlamydosaurus kingii), green tree frogs (Litoria caerulea) and assorted pythons.
This sanctuary is featured in Wildlife Lands 19!
Wallaby Gully is a lush 5 hectare sanctuary located around 45 km northwest of Townsville. We have been wildlife carers for over a decade, so when we came across Wallaby Gully we knew instantly it was the place for us. Not only does it provide a haven to raise and rehabilitate wildlife, it’s also a lovely soft release-site, free from predators and with an abundance of underground water.
Wallaby Gully is surrounded by larger properties also owned by wildlife-savvy residents, which encouraged us in our decision to apply to become a Wildlife Land Trust sanctuary. This interested us immediately, knowing we could provide a safe place for wildlife, whilst inspiring others to do the same and connecting to a network of like-minded landholders. We mostly raise kangaroos and wallabies, with a large, well-thought out pen dedicated to the staging of macropods prior to release. The transition is seamless, from being raised in pouches inside, to the staging pen for a taste of the outside world, to a graduated release over weeks out into the paddocks, animals can opt to stay in or out of the pen and explore as they wish, a true soft release.
Since moving to Wallaby Gully, we have rehabilitated, staged and released more than 40 macropods and taken on many other species of hand-raised wildlife for release, some of which have come back to show us their very own joeys. We believe the abundance of water and safety of surrounding properties leads to the success and happiness of the animals here. We’re always thrilled to see another hand-raised girl come back with a joey, or one of our larger males out in the paddock happily grazing as the alpha male of his mob.
The newest member of Wallaby Gully arrived in August last year, a little baby girl named Victoria who is fast becoming much like us with her natural gentle ways around wildlife. We regularly sit in the paddock with Victoria to watch the sun set whilst quietly observing wildlife, our favourite pastime.
