Raptor Refuge
Australia
AKP Project Since 2019
Category:
AKP is working to protect the threatened population of Tasmanian birds of prey
Overview
Tasmania, an isolated island state off Australia’s south coast, is known for its vast, rugged wilderness areas and extraordinary wildlife. Located south of the Tasmanian capital Hobart, Raptor Refuge is the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere which, takes in injured birds of prey and rehabilitates them for return to the wild. Threatened by power lines, farming, habitat loss and wind farms, well over a hundred wedge-tailed eagles, and many more raptors, are killed each year and the threats are constant. There are fewer than 120 breeding pairs of eagles left in Tasmania today and they are a threatened species in dire need of protection.
The refuge comprises a number of aviaries, including the largest flight aviary in Australia, educational displays and a clinic where birds are cared for and brought back to health in readiness for release back into the wild. AKP’s investment supports the construction of a new, larger, flight aviary to enable the rehabilitation of greater numbers of Tasmanian raptors and improved facilities for research and education.
Visit this Project
A&K travelers in Tasmania will have the unique opportunity to visit the refuge and enjoy a level of access beyond anything that is offered to any other guest. In addition to visiting the aviaries and tactile displays, guests are invited into the bird care and exercise areas to observe individual patients in the various stages of recovery and to study procedures which adequately prepare the birds for release, such as beak trimming, weigh ins and husbandry techniques.
