Wain the oldest wombat in the world is about to turn 35 exceeding the average wild wombat's age by about 20-years. He was born in the Cradle mountain area in Tasmania but has spent most of his life in Japan at the Satsukiyama Zoo in Ikeda.
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00:00 Wayne was, his mother was run over in Cradle Mountain area and a lady by the name of Lynn
00:07 Donovan rescued him and cared for him, then brought him to us down at Mole Creek and we
00:13 cared for him then.
00:14 And it happened to be the 25th anniversary in 1990 of the sister city between Launceston
00:21 and Ikeda in Osaka, Japan.
00:25 And back in '65 the Japanese gave Launceston city some Japanese macaque monkeys and they
00:31 wanted some wombats to celebrate the 25th anniversary.
00:35 So Wayne was one of three wombats sent over in 1990.
00:39 Wow, such a long time ago.
00:41 And you ensured his home was going to be up to scratch back then?
00:46 Well back in 1990, they built a facility that was perfectly capable to house the wombats,
00:53 the three wombats.
00:55 But from that time onwards, of course, there's been no real developments there, which we
00:59 weren't really happy with Wayne and the wombats environment there over the years.
01:04 And the good news is they're about to develop a brand new, big, world-class wombat facility
01:11 for Wayne and possibly two more wombats to go across and join him.
01:15 Yeah, so back in the 90s when he went over there, he went over with a couple of other
01:20 wombats and they tell us the story about them and the offspring?
01:24 Well, Wimbles and Winnie, they both had, they went across with Wayne, similar age.
01:30 They're about 18 months of age, the three wombats when they left.
01:34 And they produced two young, Wayne's father sired two young, but he outlived both the
01:40 females and both his offspring.
01:42 Wow, what do you reckon his, and he's still looking pretty good.
01:46 What do you reckon his secret is?
01:50 The Japanese worshipped the wombat over there at Ikeda and I think the care they give there
01:54 is second to none.
01:56 It's just the environment is going to be improved.
01:59 So Wayne, I think, is one of those wombats, they let him live his life the way he wanted
02:03 to.
02:04 So they've never allowed Wayne to do anything but he's wanted to do.
02:09 When he builds a burrow, he builds a burrow.
02:11 So he's chosen where he wants to be, when he wants to be.
02:14 There's no pressure for him to be on display to the people because it's a free entry, small
02:19 children zoo like our city park in Launceston.
02:22 So I think Wayne's had a pretty relaxed lifestyle and a very good care, a diet similar to what
02:28 we feed.
02:29 So it's quite unusual.
02:31 We don't know what is the secret to Wayne.
02:33 And now he needs some mates.
02:36 Well there is two wombats still there that went across about 12 years ago, but now they're
02:42 developing a much larger area and have much more area for the wombats.
02:46 We'll send another two over there as that facility finished in time.
02:50 And so when are you heading over or how are you being involved this time?
02:56 Well I'm helping them design, develop the facility and work with their husbandry and
03:01 their keepers.
03:02 I've been across in January 2023, was the last time I went across to basically sign
03:08 the agreement that they would develop a new facility before they could get more wombats.
03:12 And now I've been working with them through that process and hopefully March next year
03:16 that might be when the wombats move over there.
03:20 And what's going to make that facility acceptable?
03:22 Is it a key thing, the amount of space they have to live in?
03:29 It's a combination of space.
03:31 I mean it's a complexity within the facility.
03:35 It'll have a lot more grass and a lot more natural environment.
03:39 They won't be using the traditional, unfortunately they've been using the wild look and the old
03:45 style zoo look.
03:46 It's going to be a much more open look with no fencing to see and just a natural environment
03:53 for the wombats with the mountain behind them.
03:55 Yeah, good stuff.
03:56 And how's it going in Tassie for you?
03:59 Well I'm actually up at Borderee National Park at the moment.
04:02 Joe, we're about to release some eastern quolls into the national park up here as part of
04:08 a program with a great collaboration of stakeholders.
04:13 So very exciting, that's why you've caught me up here, not in my home state.
04:17 And so did you breed the quolls yourself?
04:20 It's a combination, there's a program, we have a program on quoll breeding facilities
04:27 in Tasmania and also a facility here on the mainland providing the animals.
04:32 And so as well as being involved in a zoo yourself, you're also very keen to see animals
04:38 back out in the wild where possible?
04:41 Oh look, it's always been one of our modus operandi at Trewunner in Tasmania, reinforcement
04:47 augmentation of wild populations.
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