Dude Perfect goes on a photo safari at Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
A lot has happened in the last 6 months.
This Youtube channel with 60 million followers featured the sanctuary in their Australia Bucket list episode. You can watch the story here.
See the rebirth of Kangaroo Island up close on a new walk
A lot has happened in the last 6 months.
I wish I could write like Ricky French. This nice article will resonate with anyone who has visited the Hanson Bay cabins recently.
The resilience of South Australia’s KI is on abundant display on this gentle, four-day walk.
The Australian Walking Company’s Kangaroo Island Signature Walk, a four-day guided hike along two thirds of the 66km Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail, open for business again after being destroyed in the black summer bushfires of 2019-20, which burned almost half the island, and virtually all 33,000ha of Flinders Chase National Park.
Hanson Bay cabins in 2024
2024 Update
A lot has happened in the last 6 months.
A lot has happened in the last 6 months.
After 4 years our neighbor Southern Ocean Lodge reopened in December. It has received rave reviews and is spectacular with small but beautiful design improvements.
Kelly Hill Caves has also fully reopened recently. Follow the link to the bookings page. After 4 years you can again walk to or from the cabins to the caves on the Hanson Bay hike.
Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary was severely impacted by the wildfires of 2020 but the regeneration since is an extraordinary sight to see firsthand.
The Hanson Bay Sanctuary is a 2000 hectare, privately owned sanctuary inside the boundary of Flinders Chase National Park (FCNP), located about 110 kilometers from Kingscote.
Protecting Planting Areas
Hanson Bay has had revegetation projects in place for years, typically an area must be fenced off first, because the wallabies and possums love to eat the seedlings!
To ensure survival, the group usually parcels off a section of land, about 50 acres, and then fences it before planting the seedlings. Once it has been in place for at least seven years, the trees are generally tall enough and mature enough to survive, and it can be removed.
Recovery: 2021 Update
Jim Geddes reported, “The recovery and the regeneration of the landscape is quite stunning at the present time! All the trees that we've planted are doing well. There are also many volunteer (native) germinations. We have had the 4th wettest July on record and Spring flowers are everywhere. We are seeing plant species we have never seen before that are fire responsive.”
The Hanson Bay Sanctuary was severely impacted by the wildfires that ravaged it and the mainland of Kangaroo Island in 2019-2020. More than 10 million acres in Australia burned, and Kangaroo Island, known for its wildlife, was deeply affected by the destruction.
The Hanson Bay Sanctuary is a 2000 hectare, privately owned sanctuary inside the boundary of Flinders Chase National Park (FCNP), located about 110 kilometers from Kingscote, which has a local plant nursery with volunteers. Approximately 90- 95 percent of that district burned during the fires, causing a massive depletion in the habitats needed for wildlife.
Although fires are part of the natural landscape, with big fires occurring every 10-20 years, this was a 100-year event with a hot burn that massively depleted the undergrowth, destroying the foundation of local ecosystems.
The Sanctuary also lost its volunteer house and “tree factory” (the nursery used to collect and store native seeds for germination).
Determined to rebuild, the team rolled up its sleeves and got started building a replacement nursery in 2020. By working with local nurseries, the government’s Dept of Environment nursery and director, and various schools, the massive undertaking began to replant and restore the habitats that were destroyed.
That’s when the reforestation and carbon offset provider 8 Billion Trees got involved, helping fund the rebuilding process and shovel ready germination projects carried out by schools, so that reforestation efforts could be carried out without any delays.
Building “Tree Factory 2.0” also began, to serve as a place to both germinate seeds and a high security vault for protecting and storing seedlings.
By March, 2020, the nursery was nearly completed! The simple possum-proof structure was constructed of mostly recycled materials saved from the fire.
Protecting Planting Areas
Hanson Bay has had reforestation projects in place for years, but typically an area must be fenced off first, because the wallabies and possums love to eat the seedlings!
To ensure survival, the group usually parcels off a section of land, about 50 acres, and then fences it before planting the seedlings. Once it has been in place for at least seven years, the trees are generally tall enough and mature enough to survive, and it can be removed.
How It’s Going: Rebuilding Habitats With Tree Planting
Jim Geddes reported, “The recovery and the regeneration of the landscape is quite stunning at the present time! All the trees that we've planted are doing well. There are also many volunteer (native) germinations. We have had the 4th wettest July on record and Spring flowers are everywhere. We are seeing plant species we have never seen before that are fire responsive.”
Rebuilding the delicate ecosystems that exist on Kangaroo Island is an important part of the work 8 Billion Trees supports. So far, thousands of new trees have been planted, with many more scheduled for this upcoming planting season.
After Australia's bush fires, 'koala ark' looks to future-proof populations
Koalas in the Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary fared better. Just over a year later, Jim Geddes points out a brown-grey, furry ball wedged in the fork of a eucalyptus tree in the car park of the wildlife sanctuary, located at the western and most severely damaged end of the island.
BY ANNA WATANABE
KYODO
Apr 5, 2021
KANGAROO ISLAND, AUSTRALIA – Over the southern hemisphere summer of 2019-20, the world watched as eastern and southern Australia battled some of the worst bush fires the country has seen in generations.
Most of the fight took place on the mainland, but among the worst-hit areas was Kangaroo Island, home to a small community off the country’s southern coast, where infernos burned through over half of its 440,000 hectares.
Kangaroo Island is famous for its native wildlife, including sea lions, koalas and, of course, kangaroos. But it is estimated that up to 90% of the island’s previously 50,000-strong koala population was killed as the flames swept through eucalyptus plantations.
Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on the road to recovery after devastating bushfire
Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary was one of several iconic Kangaroo Island destinations destroyed in the summer's bushfires. Co-owner Jim Geddes is hoping to rebuild once his insurance claim is sorted out and has been overseeing the recovery effort since the fire tore through on the afternoon of January 3, 2020.
From The KI Islander by Stan Gorton - May 17th, 2020
Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary was one of several iconic Kangaroo Island destinations destroyed in the summer's bushfires. Co-owner Jim Geddes is hoping to rebuild once his insurance claim is sorted out and has been overseeing the recovery effort since the fire tore through on the afternoon of January 3, 2020.
The fire burned through the 5000-acre property, destroying the original homestead, visitor centre, manager's house and staff flats. Only the work sheds survived. Meanwhile down at Hanson Bay on the coast, only one building of Mr Geddes' holiday cabins survived and the adjacent settlement of shacks was also destroyed by the fire.
"We have been focussing on the wildlife but once we have settled and know where we stand with insurance, we will have the guidance to continue on to the next stage," Mr Geddes said.
"We will rebuild but we are using this opportunity to try and learn from previous mistakes and make it better." He always thought the open paddocks would have been enough to protect the sanctuary from fire, but he acknowledges the old homestead had always been vulnerable.
Source: https://www.theislanderonline.com.au/story/6759160/hanson-bay-wildlife-sanctuary-on-the-road-to-recovery
Hope for the future on Kangaroo Island
Signs that rare bird and marsupial colonies are surviving the aftermath of horrific bushfires are emerging with the help of sensor cameras, water pumps and specialist ecologists.
Glossy Black Cockatoos After the Bushfire
Here is a video talking about Glossy Black Cockatoos on Kangaroo Island after the bushfires of summer 2019/20.
Kangaroo Island: recovering, not ravaged
‘Only 6 weeks after the fire front passed we have just returned from more days on the fire grounds where we find plant and animal successions are well advanced. Lots of new regrowth on charred and standing timber.
Fire dependent fungi are prospering in the ash beds. There are lots of tracks and signs of small vertebrates such as lizards, marsupials, and birds on the ground. Many are taking up new shelters in fallen timber and fire hollowed logs, we can detect at least four different types of birdsong on the air. Recent rains have created ephemeral pools and running creeks where frogs and toadlets are calling. The calm evenings are punctuated by the calls of thick knee curlews, boobooks and masked plover’.
Excerpt from field report Kangaroo Island 3/2/2020 – Dr Peggy Rismiller OAM, Mike McKelvey OAM, PLWRC
Preserving Hanson Bay Koalas on the mainland
Sixteen more koalas have been translocated from bushfire-ravaged Kangaroo Island and will be housed at Cleland Wildlife Park to add to the recently established disease-free insurance population.
The translocation was carried out by Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and Cleland Wildlife Park staff to prevent the koalas from dying of starvation and these animals will further establish an ark population on mainland South Australia.
Bushfire impacts Hanson Bay
Friday, 3 January, 2020
Hanson Bay Company regrets to inform you that Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary was hit very hard by Friday’s devastating fire. Many buildings were lost but it is too early to know the exact details.
All guests and most staff were evacuated early Friday.
We would like to thank Kelly Bartlett, Mick Geursen, and Shane Waddell for their outstanding dedication during this extraordinary crisis. They remained on site as long as possible and were the last to leave Hanson Bay. We are also very grateful to the CFS for their unceasing efforts.
The sanctuary and the cabins will be closed until further notice. Our thoughts and prayers are with all communities across the island, and across greater Australia.
