Parnana Pikurtu Wildlife Sanctuary

If you've ever wondered what you need to do to win Citizen of the year in the Shire of Yilgarn, then you won't be surprised to hear it's something along the lines of running a wildlife sanctuary and rehabilitation centre in your own time, or world peace.

So, this week I went to visit the Parnana Pikurtu Wildlife Sanctuary in Moorine Rock run by local legends Laura Black and Ron Goodhill, 2021 Shire of Yilgarn Citizens of the Year. The place isn't a zoo or wildlife park, more of a rehabilitation centre, so you can't just go there on a whim, but they do open for education and awareness days and private visits if arranged with them. They also have a holiday property and a glamping tent you can hire.

I'd visited before in passing and seen the kangaroo mob on the property, but only recently did I actually speak to Ron and Laura, who invited me to come back, with my camera and take some photos. Unfortunately Laura wasn't available on the day, so instead I have replaced her photo with a kangaroo. I think, there are lots of very similar marsupials...

Generally speaking, Ron and Laura respond to calls of injured or abandoned animals, nurse them back to health with an eye to releasing them back into the wild. Not all can be released into the wild though.

They have a pretty big area dedicated to the grey kangaroos, red kangaroos and wallaroos (or euros), separated into different pens. They also tend to roam fairly free around the house itself. Like a bunch of demotivated security guards.

They were all friendly. Some a bit shy, some a little bit too friendly...a bit grabby at times.

A sizeable portion of the animals are the birds. There's an assortment of galah's, butcher birds, tawny frogmouths, green birds, yellow birds, birds that go to extravagant hairdressers etc

Ron did a great job of feeding them almonds, sweetcorn, lettuce, caviar, the usual bird food.

On the other side, were the real stars, in my mind. The barn owls, with their sometimes surprised but mostly cynical expressions.

Followed by, my favourite, the Tawny Frogmouth. I first came across these guys in Margaret River and think they're adorable with their constantly livid expression and their confident belief that their 'swaying like branches', passes as decent camouflage.

At the end of the visit, there was a quick visit to see the tubby ponies.

Bonus round:

Young Tawny Frogmouth in rehab - looking not so livid.