City of Nunawading: Blackburn Creeklands. Black's Walk, Kalang Park, Furness Park.City of Nunawading: Blackburn Creeklands. Black's Walk, Kalang Park, Furness Park.parks and reserves, blacks walk, furness park, kalang park, city of nunawading. parks and recreation

Whitehorse Council has reached a compromise in draft strategy for fire management in bushland reserves.Whitehorse Council has reached a compromise in draft strategy antonio park, mitcham, bellbird dell, blackburn lake sanctuary, yarran dheran, abbey walk, vermont, blacks walk, cootamundra walk, elgar park, heatherdale reserve, stephens reserve, mullum mullum creek, furness park, campbells croft, gardiners creek, surrey park, memorial park, somers trail

Article from Nunawading Gazette, 29 October 1986 on damage to parkland from swimming pool construction.Article from Nunawading Gazette, 29 October 1986 haydn street, blackburn, furness park

Blackburn Creeklands [ Information brochure with map]furness park, kalang park, blacks walk, parks and reserves

A landscape submission written for the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) for Blackburn Lake and the Bell Bird Streets. Definitions given of boundaries of the Lake area, ownership, housing and gardens. Photographs and map.A landscape submission written for the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) for Blackburn Lake and the Bell Bird Streets.blackburn lake sanctuary, waratah crescent, blackburn, jeffery street, hill street, boongarry avenue, linum street, laurel grove, acacia avenue, city of nunawading, melbourne and metropolitan board of works, furness park, camberwell grammar school

'Land under threat: the future use of public open space adjoining Blackburn Creek' by Blackburn Creek Conservation Group, November 1981. Includes detailed descriptions, plans, bird lists, correspondence.'Land under threat: the future use of public open space adjoining Blackburn Creek' by Blackburn Creek Conservation Group, November 1981.blackburn creek, parks and reserves, kalang park, furness park, environment, blackburn creek conservation group, blacks walk, blackburn creeklands, melbourne and metropolitan board of works, city of nunawading, burgess, graham

Article entitled 'How green were my valleys' by R.V. Cottingham from The Melbourne Walker 1982. Describes a walk through the Gardiners Creek valley from Laburnum to Gardiner. 'How green were my valleys' by R.V. Cottingham from The Melbourne Walker 1982. creeks, back creek, wandin creek, gardiners creek, cootamundra walk, forest hill reserve, furness park, sparks reserve

Sympathetic treatment of creek banks and preservation and regeneration of bushland will encourage wildlife, development of wetlands has encouraged water birds, provision of play equipmentSympathetic treatment of creek banks and preservation and regeneration of bushland will encourage wildlifeparks and reserves, blacks walk, kalang park, furness park, city of nunawading, melbourne and metropolitan board of works, middleborough road, blackburn, pakenham street, blackburn road, gardiners creek, laburnum primary school no. 4863

Blackburn Creeklands Bird List, July 1986. Nunawading Parks and Recreation Information.furness park, kalang park, blacks walk, birds, city of nunawading. parks and recreation department.

Heritage Trail funded by grant to the City of Whitehorse from Commonwealth of Australia to celebrate 100 years of Federation.Coloured photograph of Display Board at Furness Park, Main Road Blackburn depicting the Open Air School. Part of the Whitehorse Heritage Trail.whitehorse heritage trail, open air school no 3580 blackburn, city of whitehorse

Heritage Trail funded by grant to the City of Whitehorse from Commonwealth of Australia to celebrate 100 years of Federation.Coloured photograph of opening of Whitehorse Heritage Trail at Furness Park Main Street Blackburn by the Mayor, Cr. Bill Bowie and Phillip Baressi, MHR and Lois Binnie, Heritage & Leisure Officer, City of Whitehorse.bowie, bill, baressi, phillip, binnie, lois, whitehorse heritage trail, city of whitehorse

Heritage Trail funded by grant to the City of Whitehorse from Commonwealth of Australia to celebrate 100 years of Federation.Coloured photograph of Phillip Baressi, MHR for Deakin, unveiling the Display Panel at opening of Whitehorse Heritage Trail at Furness Park, Maine Road Blackburn.On left: Cr Bill Bowie, Mayor of Whitehorse.|On right: Cr. Kaele Way, Geoff Pascoe, City of Whitehorse and Cr Peter Allen.whitehorse heritage trail, city of whitehorse, baressi phillip, bowie, bill, way, kaele, pascoe, geoff, allan, peter

Sarah Wright was married to a gold miner named William. They lived at Laura Villa, Smeaton. Their family won many singing and instrumental awards. Frank Wright their son was born and attended Smeaton State School and was a renown resident of Smeaton. Frank was tutored by Percy Code and was awarded a gold medal for the highest marks in the ALCM examinations in the British Colonies at the age of seventeen years. He became the Australian Open Cornet Champion by the age of eighteen. A year later, Frank conducted the City of Ballarat Band, and later the Ballarat Soldiers’ Memorial Band. He formed the Frank Wright Frisco Band and Frank Wright and his Coliseum Orchestra. These bands won many South Street awards, and Frank as conductor won many awards in the Australian Band Championship contest. In 1933 Frank Wright sailed to England to conduct the famous St Hilda’s Band and was later appointed Musical Director of the London County Council, where he organized many amazing concerts in parks, in and around the London district. He was made Professor of Brass and Military Band Scoring and conducted at the Guildhall of Music and Drama. Frank was often invited to adjudicate Brass Band Championships around Europe, in Australia, including South Street and in New Zealand. The Frank Wright Medal at the Royal South Street competition is awarded to an individual recognized as making an outstanding contribution to brass music in Australia.Black and white photograph of a woman in a hat and fur coat, standing next to a park bench. A palm tree is behind her and in the background can be seen town buildings. The woman is Sarah Wright.sarah wright, frank wright, cornet, laura villa, smeaton

These photographs of Mount Cook, New Zealand were taken by Olive Hamilton. Olive and William Hamilton managed a local guest/boarding house 'Silver Springs' located at the edge of Emerald Lake Park in the 1940s and 1950s. Olive was also president of the Victorian Amateur Cine Society Ladies Auxiliary. Most notably Olive and her husband William documented the 1954 Royal visit.The photographs were taken by a local person renowned for her photography.Orange coloured box containing a plastic rotary slide magazine with 100 loaded photographic slides of Mt. Cook, New ZealandBaximat magazin 100S, Paximat Rund-Magazin fur 100 glassols gerhmte dias/ "Olive Hamilton"nature, olive hamilton, mt cook, silver springs

Ballarat tram 26 at one of the Gardens Loops, c1937 with the destination of City. Possibly, the photo was taken prior to the introduction of through routing of trams introduced in August 1937 when trams no longer terminated in the City at Grenville St but ran through the city to another terminus. See item 5578. A lady in a fur collar coat carries a small case is boarding the tram. There are motor vehicles parked on the grounds behind the tram. Scan of negative collected by David Critchley of Sydney.Yield information about Ballarat 26 and the Gardens c1937.Digital image of a scan of an original negative.tramways, trams, tram 26, gardens, wendouree parade

Dr Carl von Brandenstein was born in 1909 in Hanover, Germany. He studied oriental languages and the history of religion at Berlin University (1928-1934) and Leipzig (1938-1939). His doctoral thesis was a dissertation on the iconography of Hittite gods. He was arrested in Persia in 1941 and sent to Australia where he was interned at Loveday Camp South Australia and in Camp 1 Tatura from January 1945 until his release in August 1946.Four artworks in a dark wood frame with terracotta coloured matte. Item 1: Hospital Waranga. Tall gum trees in foreground, blue sky . Staff standing under the veranda and a red cross vehicle parked in front. A barbed wire fence surrounds the hospital. Item 2: Inside the Library. Item 3: Camp Barracks. Four huts in a row . A tree and garden in front. Item 4: Reading Room. A table in centre of the room with a single chair. Books and stationery items on the table. A lamp hangs from the ceiling. Bookshelves along the walls and paintings on the wall. Item 2: "am letzten Tage deiner Internierung dem lieben Hans Wulff fur Errinnerung an gemeinsam gebautes" (English Translation: On the last day of your internment to dear Hans Wiulff for remembrance of what we built together. camp 1, tatura, carl von brandenstein, internment camp loveday, waranga hospital, library, hans wulff

Lake Bolac Tennis Club, 1979. (5 teams) Back L-R: Colin McKenzie, Les O'Brien, Ian Furness, Peter Solly, Fergus Cameron, Ian Park, Jack Martinich, Bill McKenzie, Ray Gale. 3rd row: Greg Walters. Douglas Lee, Barry Walters, Wayne Phillips, Rodney Young, Alan Wordley, Ray Harrington, Andrew McIntyre, Veronica Hucker. 2nd row: Betty Walters, Glenda Davis, Jan Wordly, Marj McKenzie, Chris Gale, Beryl O'Biren, Viv Martinich, Jenny Healey, Helen Furness. Front: Judy Merry, Jenny Solly, Hazel Brown, Helen Jones, Una Allender, Viv Cameron, Merran Low. lake bolac, tennis club, allender, brown, cameron, davis, furness, gale, harrington, healey, hucker, jones, lee, low, martinich, mcintyre, mckenzie, merry, o'brien, park, phillips, solly, walters, wordly, young.

This photograph was taken at Wooragee Hall on Wednesday the 28th of April 2004 as part of an event called 'Queries about Quolls'. This event was hosted by the Wooragee Landcare Group and was led by Andrew Murray, President of the South East Forest Spotted-tailed Quoll Working Group and one of Victoria's leading authorities in quolls. As the name of the event would suggest, this session provided attendees with insight and general information on quolls, including the characteristics of quolls, the habitat of quolls and the techniques that can be used when searching for quolls. This event was likely part of a wider project aimed at protecting the endangered species of the tiger quoll, also known as the spotted-tailed quoll, an animal that once inhabited Mount Pilot-Chiltern National Park. The Tiger Quoll is the largest of the quoll species. Largely resembling a cross between a possum and a cat, the quoll is distinctive due to the white spots that are often found all over its brown fur. This photograph is significant as it provides evidence of a project undertaken by the Wooragee Landcare Group to educate members of the public on the tiger quoll in the early 2000s in an attempt to better understand and protect the species. The Wooragee Landcare Group has been instrumental in the co-ordination of programs relating to biodiversity protection in the local area, providing great assistance to landholders. Portrait coloured photograph printed on gloss paper.Reverse: WAN / NA / OANA2NO / NNN+ / 2 / 8743 / wooragee, wooragee hall, wooragee landcare, wooragee landcare group, quoll, spotted-tailed quoll, tiger quoll, queries about quolls, south east forest spotted-tailed quoll working group, andrew murray quolls, andy murray quolls, mount pilot chiltern national park, quoll species, endangered quoll

This photograph was taken at Wooragee Hall on Wednesday the 28th of April 2004 as part of an event called 'Queries about Quolls'. This event was hosted by the Wooragee Landcare Group and was led by Andrew Murray, President of the South East Forest Spotted-tailed Quoll Working Group and one of Victoria's leading authorities in quolls. As the name of the event would suggest, this session provided attendees with insight and general information on quolls, including the characteristics of quolls, the habitat of quolls and the techniques that can be used when searching for quolls. This event was likely part of a wider project aimed at protecting the endangered species of the tiger quoll, also known as the spotted-tailed quoll, an animal that once inhabited Mount Pilot-Chiltern National Park. The Tiger Quoll is the largest of the quoll species. Largely resembling a cross between a possum and a cat, the quoll is distinctive due to the white spots that are often found all over its brown fur.This photograph is significant as it provides evidence of a project undertaken by the Wooragee Landcare Group to educate members of the public on the tiger quoll in the early 2000s in an attempt to better understand and protect the species. The Wooragee Landcare Group has been instrumental in the co-ordination of programs relating to biodiversity protection in the local area, providing great assistance to landholders.Square coloured photograph printed on gloss paper. Reverse: + 3 8748 / 265 wooragee, wooragee hall, wooragee landcare, wooragee landcare group, quoll, spotted-tailed quoll, tiger quoll, queries about quolls, south east forest spotted-tailed quoll working group, andrew murray quolls, andy murray quolls, mount pilot chiltern national park, quoll species, endangered quoll

This photograph was taken at Wooragee Hall on the 28th of April, 2004, during an general information event titled "Questions About Quolls." The event was hosted by Andy Murray, then president of the South East Forests Spot-Tailed Quoll Working Group. Information provided included quoll characteristics, habitats, and how to find them. This event was partially prompted by a desire to find out if quolls still lived in Mount Pilot-Chiltern National Park, as there had been no confirmed sightings since the 2003 bushfires. Andy Murray helped lead the efforts to find them. Currently, landcare group efforts have found evidence of a small but present spot-tailed quoll population in the park. Reasons for the decrease in population include fox populations in the area and destruction of habitat. The man pictured in the photograph is Owen Gemmill(?) The spotted-tailed quoll, also called the Tiger Quoll, is an endangered Australian animal. It is the largest carnivorous mammal in Australia, and is native to Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania. Slightly larger than a cat, the animals fur is normally brown, with black marking and white spots. Currently, there are approximately 14,000 spotted-tailed quolls in the wild. This photograph is significant as an example of events used by the Wooragee Landcare Group to inform the public on local environmental issues, and for its link to the hunt for the spotted-tailed quoll. Portrait colour photograph printed on gloss paper. Reverse: WAN NA 0ANA0N0 NN2+ 1 1636 quoll, south east forest spotted-tailed quoll working group, spotted-tailed quoll, tiger, mt pilot, andrew murray quolls, andy murray quolls, andrew murray, mount pilot chiltern national park, foxes, endangered quoll, queries about quolls, quoll species, wooragee, wooragee hall, wooragee landcare, wooragee landcare group, owen gemmill

This photograph was taken in April 2004, on the field day in Mount Pilot-Chiltern National Park as part of a workshop on quolls, led by Andrew Murray, then president of the South East Forests Spot-Tailed Quoll Working Group. IThis event was prompted by a desire to find out if quolls still lived in Mount Pilot-Chiltern National Park, as there had been no confirmed sightings since the 2003 bushfires. Andy Murray helped lead the efforts to find them. Currently, landcare group efforts have found evidence of a small but present spot-tailed quoll population in the park. Reasons for the decrease in population include fox populations in the area and destruction of habitat. Pictured, L-R: unknown, Andy Murray, unknown, Jerry Alexander, Geoff Galbraith, Mary Prowse The spotted-tailed quoll, also called the Tiger Quoll, is an endangered Australian animal. It is the largest carnivorous mammal in Australia, and is native to Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania. Slightly larger than a cat, the animals fur is normally brown, with black marking and white spots. Currently, there are approximately 14,000 spotted-tailed quolls in the wild.This photograph is significant as an example of events used by the Wooragee Landcare Group to inform the public on local environmental issues, and for its link to the hunt for the spotted-tailed quoll.Landscape colour photgraph printed on gloss paper. Reverse (partial) WAN quoll, south east forest spotted-tailed quoll working group, spotted-tailed quoll, tiger, mt pilot, andrew murray quolls, andy murray quolls, andrew murray, mount pilot chiltern national park, foxes, endangered quoll, queries about quolls, quoll species, wooragee, wooragee landcare, wooragee landcare group, jerry alexander, geoff galbraith, mary prowse, bushfire, chiltern

This photograph was taken in the Mount Pilot Chiltern National Park. This park is located near Chiltern in Victoria. It's most notable landmarks include Mt Pilot and Woolshed Falls. It also has many mines from the Gold Rush in the late 1800s. It is home to much flora and fauna, including the tiger quoll. The tiger quoll, also known as the spotted-tail quoll, is a marsupial that gives in the Mount Pilot Chiltern National Park. It is also main land Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial. It can weigh up too four kilograms and looks similar to either a possum or a spotted cat. It has red and brown fur with distinct spots. The tiger quoll is found along the Great Dividing Range, which includes Victoria, New South Wales and also near the border of Queensland. It lives in forests, rainforests and coastal heathlands and woodlands. In 2004 a team of volunteers from the Wooragee Landcare group as well as some of the Department of Sustainability and Environment staff set out to find the tiger quoll following the 2003 bushfires. Since the bushfires, concern had arisen for it because it hadn't been seen since the bushfires. They attempted to find traces of the quoll through finding and identifying their droppings as well as DNA testing. This photograph was taken during this search. This photograph represents the work that goes into protecting a important species like the tiger quoll. The tiger quoll is a significant species because it is main land Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial. As a result of this, there has been much work done to preserve and protect it. This photograph was taken when the Wooragee Landcare group went to ensure the survival of this species, highlighting how the tiger quoll is being protected. This photograph also demonstrates the impacts of the 2003 bushfires in the Mount Pilot Chiltern National Park. This is seen through the burnt trees featured in the picture. Landscape coloured photograph printed on gloss paperReverse: WAN NA 0ANA0N0 NNN 0 1636 / [PRINTED] (No.7) / 921quoll, mount pilot chiltern national park, national park, 2003 bushfires, search, endangered, beechworth, wooragee landcare group, wooragee landcare, wooragee, possum, australia, victoria, department of sustainability and environment, photograph, 2004, spotted-tailed quoll, great dividing range, spots, fur, forests, rainforests, woodlands, coastal heathlands, spotted quoll, spotted quoll habitat

This photograph was taken at Wooragee Hall on Wednesday the 28th of April 2004 called 'Queries about Quolls' and shows a Quoll Presentation by Andrew Murray at Mt Pilot, Chiltern Mt Pilot National Park. The photograph shows (L - R) Jerry Alexander, Unknown, Unknown, Mary Prowse, Tony Prowse. The event was hosted by the Wooragee Landcare Group and was led by Andrew Murray (of Parks Victoria), President of the South-East Forest Spotted-tailed Quoll Working Group and one of Victoria's leading authorities in quolls. As the name of the event would suggest, this session provided attendees with insight and general information on quolls, including the characteristics of quolls, the habitat of quolls and the techniques that can be used when searching for quolls which was part of a wider project aimed at protecting the endangered species of the tiger quoll, also known as the spotted-tailed quoll, an animal that once inhabited Mount Pilot-Chiltern National Park. This particular photo shows a group of attendees looking at a typical quoll nesting site in a rock crevice. According to an article included in the Wooragee Landcare group coordinators annual report 2004 and 2005 album (record 00001), Andrew Murray had been tasked to train a team of Department of Sustainability and Environment staff and volunteers from the local area (Beechworth and Wooragee) in the detection skills needed to establish whether the tiger quoll still inhabited the Mount Pilot-Chiltern National Park and had survived after a bush fire in 2003 had burned through the area where they would normally have been found. The Tiger Quoll is the largest of the quoll species. Largely resembling a cross between a possum and a cat, the quoll is distinctive due to the white spots that are often found all over its brown fur.This photograph is significant as it provides evidence of a project undertaken by the Wooragee Landcare Group to educate themselves and members of the public on the tiger quoll in the early 2000s in an attempt to better understand and protect the species. The Wooragee Landcare Group has been instrumental in the co-ordination of programs relating to biodiversity protection in the local area, providing great assistance to landholders.Landscape coloured photograph printed on gloss paperReverse: WAN NA 0ANA2N0 AN2 0 1636 / [PRINTED] (No.4) / 918wooragee, wooragee hall, wooragee landcare, wooragee landcare group, quoll, spotted-tailed quoll, tiger quoll, queries about quolls, south east forest spotted-tailed quoll working group, andrew murray quolls, mount pilot chiltern national park, quoll species, endangered quoll, andrew murray, beechworth, landcare group, mount pilot

Published: (1934, June 26). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 11. Published title: VICE-ROYALTY GREETS THE KING OF THE BEASTS AT THE ZOO. Published caption: Lord Huntingfield experienced a pleasant “induction ceremony” as Patron of the Royal Zoological and Acclimatisation Society yesterday, when he made a tour of the Zoological Gardens. The picture shows the Governor, accompanied by Lady Huntingfield, inspecting the King of Beasts, who is submitting to a little playful treatment from the Director of the Gardens, Mr. Wilkie, while the Director whispers in his ear that a distinguished visitor has come to see him. (Inset), is a picture of Lord Huntingfield greeting one of the Koalas. Trove article identifier: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204818472 Description: A man wearing a hat, scarf and overcoat reaches up to pat a koala in a tree watched by a man in a hat and suit. Research by project volunteer, Fiona Collyer: In 1932, the Zoo built an Australian native animal enclosure which visitors could enter and closely view koalas, wallabies, kookaburras and magpies all placed together. The branches of the trees in the enclosure were cut so that visitors could easily see and feed the koalas sitting in them. The cost to feed each koala fresh gum leaves was fifteen shillings per week. By 1924, Queensland was the last stronghold in Australia for the koala. They were functionally extinct in South Australia, only a few hundred in NSW, and an estimated population of 1000 animals remained in Victoria. There had been a six-month open season on koalas in Queensland in 1919 where over a million had been slaughtered, however with its vast, dense forests it was impossible to accurately know their numbers. Koala fur is tough, warm and waterproof and was in high demand from consumers in Canada, Britain and the US to make hats and gloves and for lining greatcoats. In 1927, with Queensland suffering a crippling drought and high unemployment, the cash-strapped McCormack Labor Government declared an “Open Season” on koalas and “opossums” for their skins, for the month of August. (Possums were often called “opossums” at this time but they are actually possums). There were widespread protests from many groups including the Nature Lovers League, Wild Life Preservation Society of Australia, Queensland Museum, C.W.A. Royal Australian Ornithologist Union, Boy Scouts, religious and women’s groups. There were letters to newspapers from ordinary people, editorials and pleas to women to refuse to wear or purchase koala fur. People questioned the masculinity of koala hunters as it was felt that no proper bushman or sportsman would kill such a defenceless creature. The Brisbane Courier newspaper led the campaign, devoting six columns a day to “Spare the Bear”. Author Vance Palmer sent an impassioned letter to the editor of the The Brisbane Courier, 19 July 1927: “Sir- It is be hoped that the disgust which all humane people have felt at the declaration of an open season for native bears in August will not be allowed to fade away until some protest... so overwhelming and effective that the question will never be raised again. For the shooting of our harmless and loveable native bear is nothing less than barbarous. His case is entirely different from that of other furred animals. No one has ever accused him of spoiling the farmers’ wheat, eating the squatters’ grass or even spreading the prickly pear. There is not a social vice that can be put down to his account. In addition, he is comparatively defenceless. He affords no sport to the gunman, and can be trusted to present a sitting target to the creature mean enough to aim at him. For this reason he has been almost blotted out already from some areas, in days when our fauna and flora were held in such little regard that the settlers’ first instinct was to shoot every strange animal and to sink his axe into every unfamiliar tree.” The Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Gerald Sharp, had his letter published in The Brisbane Courier on 16 July 1927: “Sir... The extermination of fauna so distinctive of our country, especially of such harmless and pretty creatures as our native bears, seems to me a shameful thing, and this is likely to mean their extermination.” But it was all to no avail. Known as “Black August”, the government was unmoved by the public’s outrage. 10,000 licences were issued to hunters and “the slaughter of the innocents” went ahead. The newspapers were full of stories of dreadful cruelty against the helpless, benign creatures by the heartless hunters who not only used guns and spotlights but wire snares and cyanide baits so that pelts wouldn’t be damaged. Infant koalas were left orphaned and unlikely to survive without their mothers. Top quality pelts were sold at an average price of 56 shillings and 9 pence per dozen, poor quality skins for as little as 2 1/2 pence each. In December 1927, the Minister for Agriculture and Stock, Mr W. Forgan Smith told the Parliament that during the August open season 597,985 koala pelts worth £139,595 had netted the state’s coffers £6000. 952,194 “opossum” pelts were sold and £9000 made for the State. The backlash that followed helped topple the Queensland Labor Government in 1929. The Wild Life Preservation Society of Australia lobbied the Prime Minister Mr Stanley Bruce to refuse to issue exportation permits for koala pelts and from 10 November 1927 the Commonwealth Government suspended the issuing of permits. In 1930, the Society made a direct appeal to USA President Herbert Hoover and he signed an order prohibiting the importation of koala and wombat fur to USA, eliminating a major market. Koala pelts were often deliberately mislabelled “wombat” to get around restrictions. The ban most likely saved the koala from probable extinction. Three years later the Australian Federal Government banned the export of koala products. This movement against koala killing was really the first conservation campaign in Australia. It raised awareness of the vulnerability of a beloved animal and eventually brought about national parks and national laws for their protection. By 1936, community opposition to possum open seasons was beginning. The koala was made a Protected Species in all states in 1937, meaning no one is allowed to harm a koala, however the laws protecting the gum trees they rely on for food and shelter are weak. The Australian Government estimates the wild koala population in Australia is between 225,000 and 500,000 in 2024. The Australian Koala Foundation estimates the national population at less than 60,000 in 2021 with a 30% decline in three years. Habitat loss from land clearing, dog attacks, road deaths, chlamydia, bushfires and drought exacerbated by climate change, continues to cause their decline. Over eight million koalas were killed for their pelts between 1888 and 1927. Any one of the annual harvests killed more koalas than are alive now. At this time, children were also being taught to appreciate Australian native animals. In 1933, “Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian” book for children was published by Angus and Robertson. It was written and illustrated by New Zealand-born author Dorothy Wall and “Dedicated to my son Peter and all other Peters and Johns and Bobs and Toms and Marys and Bettys and Joans and Pats and all kind children.” The book tells the story of Blinky Bill - a mischievous, patched knickerbocker-wearing koala and his mother and father. The story has messages of conservation and instances of human unkindness and cruelty. Mr. and Mrs. Koala and young Blinky lead a mostly idyllic family life amongst a variety of other animals in the forest. However it all changes in chapter two, when Blinky Bill’s father is distressingly shot by a hunter. There is a harrowing description of Mr. Koala’s shooting and eventual death. “The Koala family lived so happily; never thinking of harm, or that anything could happen to disturb their little home, as all they asked for were plenty of fresh gum-leaves and the warm sun. They had no idea such things as guns were in the world or that a human being had a heart so cruel that he would take a pleasure in seeing a poor little body riddled with bullets hanging helplessly from the tree-top... That same being might just as well take his gun and shoot baby kookaburras, so helpless were they all and so trusting.” “Poor Mr. Koala one day was curled up asleep in his favourite corner, when the terrible thing happened. Bang! He opened his eyes in wonder. What was that? Did the limb of the tree snap where that young cub of his was skylarking? ... bang! again. This time he felt a stinging pain in his leg... Peering over the bough of the tree he saw a man on the ground with something long and black in his arms... Another bang and his ear began to hurt. Bang! again and now his little body was stinging all over. He grunted loudly and slowly climbed up the tree, calling Mrs. Koala and Blinky as he went. He managed to reach the topmost branch... Tears were pouring down his poor little face. He brushed them away with his front paws and cried just like a baby. Fortunately Mrs. Koala and Blinky Bill were hiding in the leaves quite motionless, and the shadows of the tree made them appear as part of it. The man with the gun stood and waited a long time, then walked away, whistling as he went - the only sound to be heard in the bush except the cries of the little bear far up in the tree.” Blinky and his mother quietly and fearfully wait for Mr. Koala to wake. In the morning, grunting and crying, they feel his lifeless body with their paws. Eventually Mrs. Koala realises that her husband is dead and that they need to move to a safe place. After travelling deeper into the forest, Mrs. Koala and Blinky meet koalas Mrs. Grunty and her son Snubby and she describes how she was captured as a baby by koala fur trappers to be a pet for a little girl. The trapper forgot to bring gum leaves for the koala so they try to feed her cake, milk and bananas, making her sick. The little girl’s father relays something he read in the paper: “During the year 1920 to 1921, two hundred and five thousand six hundred and seventy-nine koalas were killed and their skins sold to the fur market, under the name of wombat.” They place the koala in a box with a teddy bear for company. The baby koala’s health deteriorates and the alarmed trapper returns her to the bush. Mrs. Grunty tells Mrs. Koala that she and Blinky are the only bears that she has seen for ten years: “I remember well the little girl’s father telling her... that not so many years ago the bush was alive with us bears, from Queensland to the south of Victoria. Now, we are so rare that we have become a curiosity, something to put in zoos, for children to see; and actually in museums. I believe our grandparents sit there in glass cases, stuffed with something inside to make them appear alive, and, oh dear, glass eyes. In New South Wales, I think we could wander for miles from one corner to another and never meet a bear. I don’t know why we were all killed. As you know, we don’t eat the farmers’ crop or ruin their orchards. All we asked for were our own gum-trees.” At the end of the book, Dorothy tells her readers - “The kindest action of all would be to leave the koala baby in his own bushland, among his own playmates, with the sun, the sky, the birds, and the gum-trees, where he will grow to manhood and live for many years - happy as he should be.” In 1934, a “Wild Zoo”, the Sir Colin Mackenzie Sanctuary, opened on 32 hectares of land, formerly part of Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve in the Yarra Valley, exclusively displaying Australian native animals, birds and reptiles. It was later renamed Healesville Sanctuary and is now managed by Melbourne Zoo and home to over 200 species of Australian native fauna. The Sanctuary is committed to rescuing, breeding, researching and raising awareness of the vulnerability of Australian animals. Andrew Arthur Wellesley Wilkie, 1853-1948, was Director of the Melbourne Zoo from 1923 to 1936 and was associated with the zoo for 70 years. He first worked as a horticultural assistant to Government botanist Baron Ferdinand von Mueller at the Botanical Gardens at the age of 13, along with his older brother David. One of Andrew’s jobs was to capture moths for the National Herbarium. In 1857, a group of prominent Melburnians assembled at St. Patrick’s Hall to form the Zoological Society of Victoria, with the aim of introducing animals and plants from overseas. It was conceived, “For the purposes of science and for that of affording the public the advantages of studying the habits of the animal creation in properly arranged zoological gardens.” The Victorian Government granted 32 acres (13 hectares) of land to the Zoological Society at the southern end of Richmond Paddock on the opposite bank to the Botanical Gardens. (This is where AAMI Stadium and Collingwood Football Club now stand.) In 1861, the Zoological Society of Victoria was renamed The Acclimatisation Society of Victoria. Unfortunately the Yarra River frontage was damp, swampy and subject to flooding, so the animals were briefly housed at the Botanical Gardens until in 1862, the City of Melbourne donated 55 acres (22 hectares) of land at Royal Park for the fledgling zoo. Baron von Mueller secured employment at Royal Park for Andrew and David and they helped to lay out the gardens, plant trees and take care of a collection of deer, pheasants, hares and partridges. Initially the zoo was used for the acclimatisation of animals recovering from the long voyage to Australia and for breeding them for sport. In 1872, the zoo bought two lions, a leopard and a cheetah that had been seized from circus showmen Keith and Phillips when they were unable to pay the bill of butcher Mr T K Bennet of Bourke Street. The first zoo director, Mr. Albert Le Souef, negotiated with captains of ships to buy animals at overseas ports they visited and soon a multitude of exotic species arrived, including a ten-year-old Indian elephant in 1878. In 1923, after being head keeper for some years, Andrew was appointed director of the zoo. By 1933, the zoo had 110 different species of animals, 200 species of birds and 72 species of reptiles under Andrew’s care. He had personally planted all but six trees and laid out the garden beds. As director he lobbied authorities for funds to build more humane enclosures for the animals. In June 1928, Table Talk magazine wrote of Andrew Wilkie: “Up at the Zoo there is a humble gentleman who is a lion among the lions, who knows the proper specific to employ when the boa constrictor has chilblains, and who is a friend and confidant of Queenie the elephant. His fount of zoological lore has never been plumbed. It is bottomless, like his good fellowship and geniality. Every day he may be seen somewhere in the grounds of that growing sanctuary for the strange and arresting fauna and creeping things of the world, and I assure you as one who is privy to his passion that that area and its inhabitants are rarely out of his thoughts.” Andrew retired from the zoo in 1936 at the age of 83 and in 1948 died at his home in Brunswick aged 94. He and his wife Josephine had six children. The Victorian Acclimatisation Society was founded in 1861 by Edward Wilson, 1813-1878, then owner and editor of The Argus newspaper. He said that Australian indigenous animals were practically useless, providing only “a little sport and an occasional meal”. The Society believed that Australia’s plants and animals were vastly inferior to those in Europe. They wanted to introduce and acclimatise to Victoria “all innoxious animals, birds, fishes, insects and vegetables, whether useful or ornamental” for sport and for the table, and to spread indigenous animals and plants from the colony around the world. Their motto was “if it lives, we want it”. The Society was primarily responsible for introducing sparrows, starlings, sambar and hog deer, ostriches, brown trout, blackberries, and carp to the Murray River. They released the European songbirds, thrush and blackbird to quell the homesickness of British settlers. The Society also sent Australian animals like platypus, echidnas, kangaroos and koalas to Europe for scientific and novelty purposes. Thomas Austin, a wealthy sheep farmer of Barwon Park, Winchelsea (property now owned by the National Trust) was a member and in 1859 he introduced hares, blackbirds, thrushes and partridges onto his property. He is probably best known for introducing 24 breeding rabbits onto his estate as game for shooting parties. Thomas quipped, “The introduction of a few rabbits could do little harm and might provide a touch of home, in addition to a spot of hunting." In 2022, genomic data confirmed that Australia’s feral rabbit population is entirely descended from these rabbits. Biological control has brought the rabbit population down from an estimated high of 10 billion rabbits in the 1920s to approximately 200 million today, inhabiting 70% of Australian landmass (5.3 million square kilometres). In 1872, the Acclimatisation Society was renamed The Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria and they focused on importing exotic animals for display purposes to the zoo. In 1937, the Royal Acclimatisation Society of Victoria was recreated as the Zoological Board of Victoria with a focus on research of native animals threatened with extinction. In an editorial for The Argus newspaper, 16 March 1856, Edward Wilson lamented: "...this country has been shamelessly stolen from the blacks. Had they been like the New Zealanders or the North American Indians, we should have bought their land, and supplied them with the means of living when we took it... In less than twenty years we have nearly swept them off the face of the earth. We have shot them down like dogs. In the guise of friendship we have issued corrosion sublimate in their damper, and consigned whole tribes to the agonies of an excruciating death. We have made them drunkards, and infected them with disease which has rotted the bones of their adults, and made such few children as are born amongst them a sorrow and a torture from the very instant of their birth. We have made them outcasts on their own land, and are rapidly consigning them to entire annihilation. There are but a few of them left, comparatively. This is what we would do for that few. We would feed and clothe every one of them.” [Note: this last sentence is italicized in the original newspaper article text]. Lord Huntingfield, (William Charles Arcedeckne Vanneck) 1883-1969, Governor of Victoria 1934-1939, was a British Conservative Party politician and the first ever Australian-born Governor of an Australian state (although he was always considered British). He was patron of the Royal Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria and was acting Governor-General for six months during the absence of Lord Gowie in 1938. Lady Huntingfield (née Margaret Eleanor Crosby) 1884-1943, his American-born wife showed great interest in social welfare and the advancement of women and children. She was president of the City Newsboys Society and Patroness of the Girls Friendly Society. In 1937, rose breeder Alister Clark named a yellow hybrid tea rose for her. In 1940, the City of Melbourne opened the Lady Huntingfield Free Kindergarten in North Melbourne, now the Lady Huntingfield Early Learning and Family Services Centre. Lady Huntingfield died in London in 1943 after her house was bombed during a German airstrike. The Lady Huntingfield Memorial Scholarship was established after the City of Melbourne raised £1000 in a public appeal conducted in her memory for students undertaking a Social Work degree at the University of Melbourne. It is awarded annually to this day. The Queen Victoria Hospital named a bed in her honour. References: VICE-ROYALTY GREETS THE KING OF BEASTS AT THE ZOO. (1934, June 26). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 11. Retrieved August 23, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204818472 Prominent Personalities ANDREW WILKIE (1928, June 7). Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939), p. 15. Retrieved August 29, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146562949 'Edward Wilson (journalist)', Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Wilson_(journalist) 'Thomas Austin (pastoralist)', Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Austin_(pastoralist) 'The Acclimatisation Society was driven by misguided ideals about 'fixing nature' in Australia', ABC News, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-04/acclimatisation-society-introduced-species-history-listen/101588262?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web Blinky Bill: the quaint little Australian (eBook); by Dorothy Wall, 1933, 2023, Project Gutenberg Australia, https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks04/0400571h.html "Black August": Queensland's Open Season on koalas in 1927 (thesis); Glenn Fowler, 1993, Australian National University, https://www.savethekoala.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Black-August.pdf Unfair game: Queensland's Open Season on koalas in 1927; Jacqui Donegan, 2000, University of Queensland, https://mesto-ku.narod.ru/koalas.pdf OPEN SEASON CONDEMNED. (1927, July 19). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 15. Retrieved September 5, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21863465 COUNTRY WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION. (1927, July 30). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 25. Retrieved September 20, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21866965 AUSTRALIA: Barnardo's children at Melbourne Park Zoo (1929), British Pathé, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wcrbo_cHpI 'Kodak Cinegraph Compilation No 8', ACMI Collection, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCrBng5RwFI KOALA SKINS. EXPORT BAN SOUGHT. (1927, August 4). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 10. Retrieved September 15, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21868746 THE ABORIGINES. (1856, March 16). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved September 28, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4833244 Koala Bears (1937), British Pathé, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbqgMtyuzwE Australian Koala Bear (Earliest Archive Footage: 1929), Pond5, https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/item/152767491-australian-koala-bear-earliest-archive-footage-1929Photographer notations on slide: "Vice Regal visit to zoo B42".1930-1939, zoos, governors, koalas, conservation, possums, botanic gardens