#11: Visiting the wombat rescue center
Wombats might be my new favorite Australian animal: soft, cuddly and incredibly cute. At the Wombat Fauna and Rescue in Ceduna, not only did I get to pet my first wombat–they’re usually nocturnal and live in secluded holes–but I got to hold the world’s only white wombat.
The Wombat Fauna and Rescue is an incredible volunteer organization that takes in injured Australian animals and nurses them back to health. In addition to many baby and full-grown wombats, they have a gallah, an emu and many types of lizards. While I didn’t get to spend much time actually helping out, it was neat to interact with some Australian native wildlife that isn’t normally the country’s star attraction (and I luckily got to see plenty of Australian wildlife out in the wild!).
It’s basically a one-woman show: Lucia Franks bottle-feeds the babies, raises the funds and organizes the limited volunteers. All of the animals absolutely love her, and it’s incredible to see someone so passionate about saving animals. Many are hurt in automobile accidents, although it’s sad to find out that people often deliberately hurt wombats.
The emu lives in the front yard, and she actually cuddles you! Well, by you, I mean that she cuddles momma Lucia. Still super cute to see.
Watching an emu walk is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face: no wings (no arms!) gives them a funny little wiggle!
Wombat feet: aren’t those adorable?
Gallah with a broken wing: even hurt, he’s still gorgeous.
When I wrote my Australia bucket list, I had hoped to volunteer at the Koala Hospital in New South Wales. Instead, I went to Wombat Fauna and Rescue in Ceduna with the Nullarbor Traveller trip from Adelaide to Perth.
