Protecting a special pocket of Australia | Kalamurina Wildlife Sanctuary
To Annmarie, it's the reason she's able to protect Australia's wildlife.
Stationed at the intersection of Australia’s three central deserts, the challenges of accessing health care loom large for Kalamurina Wildlife Sanctuary managers, couple Luke Playford and Dr Annemarie van Doorn.
The Sanctuary is one of more than 30 across the country co-managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) – an integral line of work given Australia has the worst mammal extinction record of any developed country in the world.
Kalamurina, at a whopping 1.7 million acres of land, remains a stronghold for several threatened and declining species including the Crest-tailed Mulgara, a small carnivorous marsupial.
“We have many roles out here – aside from maintaining infrastructure and supporting our visiting science teams, a big part of our job is land management,” Annemarie said.
“One of the big problems we have is feral animals, particularly foxes and cats, which prey directly on native wildlife. Conserving our native wildlife is vital for the future of Australia and the whole balance of our ecosystem.”
“To me, the RFDS is an essential life-support system for people living in remote Australia. Their services save lives, make people’s lives a lot more comfortable, and without them I don’t know how we’d survive out here.
“By enabling us to stay on location doing our jobs, the RFDS is contributing to conservation throughout Australia.”
Watch the above video for the full story.
