Waterfall Springs Role

Waterfall Springs is an integral member of the unique organisational partnership working together to save the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby species from extinction in New South Wales and Victoria.

Waterfall Springs conducts in a number of participant programs aimed at reversing the decline in Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby populations including:

Recovery Programs – a selective capture of young animals are managed in captive breeding programs aimed at generating new animal numbers.
Release Programs – aimed at reintroducing captive bred animals back into the wild.
Surrogate Breeding Programs – an accelerated breeding program involving the cross fostering of pouch young from the critically endangered Victorian brush-tail rock-wallaby.
Husbandry Programs – developing new and innovative systems and technologies to aid the management and care of the animals.

With its intensive breeding facilities and specialist technologies, Waterfall Springs is currently the lead organisation in the development and implementation of the captive breeding program for the NSW Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby

Waterfall Springs occupies 13 acres and includes 30 purpose built enclosures replicating as closely as possible the natural habitats of the rock-wallabies.

The reconstructed rock-wallaby habitats are large earthen mounds incorporating numerous tunnels, dens and caves built from concrete culvert with quarried rock placed on selected aspects to create escarpments.

Recovery Program costs include veterinary nurses, keepers, maintenance feeding, pathology, behavioural and general health monitoring, skilled veterinary care and administration.

Management costs of breeding, rearing and keeping a captive population of rock-wallabies is approximately $100,000 per year to successfully breed 12 – 18 animals to maturity excluding capital costs.

Animal breeding follows carefully the genetic program established by the scientific advisory board of the Department of Environment and Conservation and includes the maintenance of small breeding groups (I male; 3-5 females). Genetic screening is conducted to avoid inbreeding.

Pouch management includes the correct ratios of male to female off spring and the removal and hardening of independent off-spring as they mature.

Waterfall Springs releases matured animals to the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change and the Victorian Recovery Team as they come of age (18 - 24 months) to support the BTRW Release Programs.