A Hopping Good Time
November 4, 2011
Hayman transforms once the sun goes down and all kinds of exciting creatures come out to play including our precious Proserpine Rock Wallabies.
Discovered in 1976, this particular breed of wallaby was determined to be a unique species in 1982, existing only in the Whitsunday Shire.
“Seven wallabies were bought to Hayman in 1998. We now have an estimated 120-160 wallabies on the island,” Hayman Ranger Ray Stevenson says.
Hayman hosts a Spotlight Tour lead by Ranger Ray where guests have the opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with these amazing creatures.
“Rock Wallabies are nocturnal, and most active just before sunrise and just after sunset, so this is the best time to spot them,” explains Ray.
Ranger Ray leads the group through lush gardens to a path with beach on one side and steep, rocky hills on the other.
“There’s one,” yells Ray.
Sure enough, there was a wallaby hopping up through the rocks and trees as though it were flat ground.
The wallabies are an endangered species so Queensland Parks and Wildlife have set up a number of nature reserves to protect them, one of which is here on Hayman.
Yearly surveys are undertaken to learn more about these creatures.
“They say Hayman’s Prosepine Rock Wallaby population is the healthiest in the world.”
It must be all the sunshine…
