World’s oldest-known wombat set to turn 35 years old

ABC NEWS (Australia)

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.

Transcript

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.

04:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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