In case you missed it on our Facebook page, Project Numbat is pleased to announce that our World Numbat Day event for 2019 will be held on Saturday 2 November. What could be better than joining us for a family friendly event and bowling for numbats!
Check out the event page and book your tickets now! https://www.facebook.com/events/2505125306221003/
The Project Numbat committee recently updated its Business Plan 2019-2022 which reflects how the committee would like to work towards achieving its three objectives:
1. To enhance efforts to conserve the Numbat and its natural habitat
2. To promote and assist community awareness of the Numbat; and
3. To undertake activities to raise monies to support Numbat conservation.
Responsible cat ownership was ranked the highest by the committee, followed by exploring various fundraising platforms and creating an active volunteer program. This plan has already been shared with stakeholders so we can identify collaborative opportunities.
Do you want to help us achieve these objectives, expand your skills and work with like-minded people to safeguard the Numbat? Then why not join our committee?
Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Tues 20th of August 2019, 6pm in South Perth Western Australia.
All positions will be vacant, in-fact some current committee members have expressed they will be taking a break and we are seeking people to fill the following positions:
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Merchandise, Media, Events, Education and 5 general committee positions. More details on all positions can be found here.
Want to know more about how you could be involved? then view our 2018 Annual Report and just a reminder that you do need to be a member of Project Numbat to participate on the committee.
Project Numbat is a not profit group and its entire committee is run by volunteers. Each volunteer brings an expertise and has a passion to get things done and always follows through!
We are fortunate that over the years we have attracted like mind people to assist us out in the field as we understand for some, volunteering cannot always be on a regular basis.
Want to know more about Project Numbat? click here
Over 18 volunteers assisted with numbat dig identification surveys across 4 reserves totaling 239 hours
Our camera monitoring project run every quarter attracted 21 volunteers contributing over 300 hours
Nine volunteers removed weeds from Dryandra Woodland contributing over 40 hours
To celebrate this years World Numbat Day on Saturday 3rd November, why not join us for a delicious and intimate High Tea at the prestigious Duxton Hotel in Perth from 1-3pm.
A delicious menu and range of teas will be available and Perth Zoo staff member and founder of Project Numbat Vicki Power will provide an informal presentation about the numbat. We will be selling our unique range of numbat mercahndise and will be raffling a print featuring a numbat paw print and group passes to the Perth Zoo.
Tables are selling fast, book your table here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/world-numbat-day-high-tea-tickets-50486745214?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
In case you didn't already know the Numbat has been installed! The park is not quite finished and open to the public just yet however it should not be too long now. We can't wait and we wonder what name she will be given?
Our Quiz night was a great success and we were able to raise the final amount of funds for our Numbat sculpture - just over $6,000 in fact!
A big thank you to all those that attended.
The sculpture is now well underway and is due to be installed by mid July in the Lions Park at Williams. Raising the $46,000 could not have been achieved without support from the Williams community and its local Council.
This foam version of the Numbat will now be used to create a Numbat mould. CDM - Creative Design Models are the fabricators behind this 'one off' invention which has been a dream of Project Numbat's for many years.
We are counting down to our Project Numbat Quiz Night next Saturday 17 March (7pm) at the Melville Bowling Club!
We have prepared a fun quiz night and much more, such as the auction of a unique Numbat Experience: a half day Numbat tracking tour in November with Numbat expert Dr Tony Friend. You can take up to two friends to track a collared Numbat in Dryandra. Every question you ever had about Numbats, will be answered by Dr Tony Friend.
We also have a great range of items for our silent auction. Click here to read our Auction Catalogue.
To book your tickets for the quiz night, please click here or email quiz@numbat.org.au for more information.
We hope to see you on Saturday!
At Project Numbat we have been putting our brains to work once again for a challenging and fun Quiz Night to raise funds for the Williams Community Numbat project – that is the creation of a giant Numbat sculpture that will be installed in the Lions Park Playground in Williams.
So gather a group of 6 friends and family members and come join us at the Melville Bowling Club on Saturday 17 March.
Doors open at 6pm for a 7pm start. There will be a silent auction and games and great prizes to win. Our first prize is a weekend in Dunsborough at Possum House for your whole team!
Tickets are $90 for a table of 6 people ($15 per person).
There will be a licensed bar and you can bring your own nibbles.
All proceeds on the night will go to the Williams Community Numbat – for more information on the Williams Community Numbat, please have a look at the Williams Community Numbat section on our website.
Ever wanted to know what it is exactly Project Numbat does? We've summarised it in this short doco, which premiered at last week's World Numbat Day. Starring our current Committee Members and heaps of cute Numbats - of course!
To mark this year's World Numbat Day, we look forward to welcoming you all at the Kookaburra Cinema in Mundaring on the 4th of November.
The outdoor cinema will be opening especially for us before the official season commences. It is a great chance to enjoy a beautiful night out under the stars in the wonderful bushland setting. We will be screening 'Oddball', a 2015 Australian family film about an eccentric chicken farmer who trains his mischievous dog Oddball to protect a penguin sanctuary from fox attacks.
The Cinema opens at 6:30pm and the movie commences at 8pm. Especially for the little ones, we will have kids' activities starting at 6.30pm.
We will also have a raffle that will be drawn at the interval, with great prizes:
1st Prize - Perth Zoo mini group pass
2nd Prize - Scitech mini group pass
3rd Prize - Double pass to Kookaburra Cinema
You can get tickets at the door ($15 for adults and $10 for children). The Kookaburra Cinema will donate part of the ticket sales to Project Numbat so we can continue to fund conservation activities and raise awareness. You will also have the chance to meet our mascot Nurla and to buy some exclusive Numbat merchandise.
A snack bar is provided, but feel free to BYO picnic.
We look forward to celebrating World Numbat Day together with you!
Note: There are no EFTPOS or ATM facilities at the Kookaburra Cinema, so please bring cash for your tickets and the bar.
We have uploaded a unique video of a Numbat digging and feeding on termites in its natural habitat in the Boyagin Nature Reserve. This footage must have been filmed while laying on the ground! Click here to see the video on our Numbats in the wild page or visit our YouTube channel for more Numbat videos!
In April Project Numbat attended a get together with property owners that adjoin Dryandra Woodland, together with the Peel Harvey Catchment Group and the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) regarding the Dryandra Numbat and Woylie project lead by DPaW. The purpose of the session was for landowners to hear about the initiatives underway in Dryandra and to encourage them to help with ongoing control of foxes and feral cats.
Representatives from the Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) talked about toxoplasmosis a parasitic disease that can be transmitted from feral cats to humans and other animals. Both feral and domestic cats are hosts to this disease which is spread predominately by contact with cat faeces. In humans and sheep it can cause abortions, as the immune system at this time is compromised. DAFWA also talked about the online training and licence requirements for the use of 1080 fox off baits and that they continue to work with DPaW regarding the use of Eradicat (another form of 1080) baits to target feral cats. At Dryandra this has been successful on some cats however foxes are the main consumer.
Trapping is another option and some local Shires are now offering the hire of cage traps for the humane dispatch of foxes and feral cats. Some landholders are already controlling feral cats and this broader action of pest control on private land adjoining such a significant reserve helps reduce predation on a number of native species and complements the on reserve actions undertaken by DPaW. A study conducted on feral cats fitted with tracking collars at Dryandra also featured and highlighted that most cat territories spanned both woodland and farmland meaning a variety of prey could be taken.
The Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews was present and noted that feral cats have been the biggest driver of extinction for Australian mammals and that the Australian Government has a target to cull 2 million feral cats by 2020. We all have a role to play in recovering Australia’s threatened species and local actions of removing feral cats, foxes and retaining habitat on private land can contribute to the increase of our native wildlife.
No doubt this work at Dryandra will contribute to this goal!
Project Numbat is vamping up its fundraising to reach $46,000 for the creation of a large fibreglass Numbat to feature in the future Williams Lions Playground!
We have committed an additional $8,000 which now totals $14,700 towards the 'Williams Community Numbat'. Some of the funds have been raised by attending local events in Williams such as the markets.
We have also approached local businesses in Williams and Narrogin for donations too. What we are really excited about is our upcoming quiz night later this year in Williams. Many local businesses have already advised of their generosity to provide gifts, hampers and vouchers for prizes and auction items.
When we do reach our goal and have the Numbat feature installed we want the Williams community to say ‘I helped fund the large Numbat in our playground’ and all Western Australians to say ‘I know what a Numbat is’, because as we know, it is our State mammal emblem after all.
If you live in the Williams area then please consider attending or donating to support this local project. If you live further away then you can still join us, and even stay overnight at Dryandra Woodland where you may be able to spot a Numbat in the wild.
For the last four years Project Numbat has worked with the Department of Parks and Wildlife to survey Boyagin Nature Reserve for numbat digs.
Numbats cannot be trapped. Therefore the presence of their distinctive digs in search of termites is a great way of learning about their presence and distribution across a reserve.
This year Project Numbat and its team of trained volunteers was asked to assist with the surveying of an out block of Dryandra Woodland prior to a predator proof fence being installed around 1,000 hectares of Wandoo Woodland.
We did get some positive results, however many sites had no numbat digs at all. We anticipate that a survey at the same site next year will yield better results as the numbats in the enclosure will be not be predated by foxes and cats and should increase in population.
Thank you to all our volunteers who contributed in total over 190 hours and worked in some hot conditions over the weekends in November: Jimmy Lamb, Mark Dewson, Jared Leigh, Deb and Graeme Walker, Hannah Kilian, Yvette Adams, Tamara Wilkes-Jones, Amy Robey and Karen Cavanough.
We hope to see you next year!
Photo: Jen Thompson
Last weekend, Project Numbat assisted in rescuing a baby numbat. It was brought from Frankland River to Perth Zoo after a call from Uralla Wildlife Sanctuary. Perth Zoo has been taking excellent care of the baby numbat and it is now in a stable condition.
Project Numbat president Tamara Wilkes-Jones was looking forward to a relaxed Friday evening pizza and footy night at her home in Perth with her husband Mark. A call from Uralla Wildlife Sanctuary in the South West changed everything. Next thing they were in the car for a 4-hour drive down south, armed with a hot water bottle, a box and some towels. Because that’s what you do when you want to save endangered wildlife from extinction.
Earlier that day, volunteers from Uralla Wildlife Sanctuary had contacted the Wildlife Helpline asking them what the best procedure was to deal with a baby numbat. They had picked the baby numbat up in Frankland River, after the young one had become separated from his mother near Perup, in the numbat heartland. Their request was answered with a surprised reaction: “Are you sure it is a numbat?” With only 1,000 numbats left in the wild, the finding of the baby numbat came as a big surprise to all involved.
So what do you do with a baby numbat? Enter Project Numbat and Perth Zoo. “Once it was confirmed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife that it was indeed a numbat, we knew there was no time to waste. Only a handful of people know how to take care of a numbat. So we got in our car for the 4-hour drive down – and back”, says Tamara-Wilkes Jones. Early Saturday morning, the baby numbat was safely delivered at Perth Zoo, where specialist keepers took over. “The numbat could not be in a better place,” says Principal Research Scientist Dr. Tony Friend from the Department of Parks and Wildlife. “Perth Zoo has over two decades of experience with breeding numbats to save them from extinction and the little one has the best chance of survival in their care.”
The baby male numbat is called Frankie after the place he was picked up. He is estimated to be between 6 to 7 months old. “He was so tiny he fitted in the palm of my hand” recalls Tamara Wilkes-Jones, who has been in close contact with the keepers at Perth Zoo and receives regular updates about how he is doing. “Frankie’s feeding every 6 hours now and is doing well, which is such a relief.”
Project Numbat's Annual General Meeting will take place on Tuesday 20th September 2016, 6.00 pm at the Perth Zoo.
Project Numbat has been in operation for over 10 years and has contributed approximately $70,000 towards conservation and awareness. Our vision is: Community awareness and involvement in the conservation of our unique mammal emblem.
We have many exciting projects that are either underway or waiting for the right opportunity. We are seeking members to become part of the committee and we believe that everyone has something to offer. We all bring our own expertise, time and of course a passion for the Numbat.
As a committee member you will need to hold a current membership, be available to attend monthly meetings held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at South Perth from 5.30pm and access to emails to keep up to date and provide input.
At the AGM, all positions will become vacant on the 20th September 2016.
We will have four executive positions available; President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. We also have five committee positions available and as part of the team you may choose to become involved in any of the following: organise attendance at events / fundraisers, write our quarterly newsletter, hold Numbat presentations, purchase and distribute merchandise, manage our website and social media, develop marketing materials, manage memberships, chair meetings, assist our paid accountant, develop new projects and collaborations, take meeting minutes, create videos and be updated on the recovery and survival of the numbat.
Our prime stakeholders include: Department of Parks and Wildlife, Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the Perth Zoo.
Our current and potential projects include;
· World Numbat Day and Quiz Night on 5th November 2016
· Purchase of Numbat radio tracking collars
· Annual Numbat dig surveys
· High School education package
· Genetic research
· Williams Community Numbat
· Primary School education package
· Boyagin Rock Picnic Upgrade
· Collaboration with Millennium Kids for a two day workshop at Dryandra Woodland with kids from the Wheatbelt
If you would like to volunteer and work with like-minded people while contributing to the long term awareness and protection of States mammal emblem then please consider joining our active committee.
Spring is in the air! Around this time of year, inquisitive numbat young start leaving the nest and exploring the wondrous world away from the burrow.
Meanwhile here at Project Numbat, we have put our most inquisitive brains to work to devise a challenging and fun Quiz Night to celebrate this year’s World Numbat Day on Saturday 5th of November.
So gather a group of 8 friends and family members, and come join us for the World Numbat Day Quiz Night at Melville Bowling Club.
Doors open at 6pm for a 7pm start. There will be a silent auction and games, and great prizes to win. How about a weekend at Dryandra Village, in the heart of numbat country, for your whole team?
Tickets are $20 (+$1 ticket fee) per person.
We’ll provide a licensed bar and you can bring your own nibbles.
All proceeds of the night will go to numbat conservation and awareness projects.
Project Numbat is seeking sponsorship from individuals and organisations in support of a Quiz Night to celebrate World Numbat Day this year on November 5th. A range of sponsorship categories are available that include the giving of funds and prizes for our silent auction.
For more information click here to view in full what sponsorship is available. Your contribution will be recognised and promoted by Project Numbat and you will be able tell your customers about how you have supported us to raise funds and awareness of the Numbat.
We have a growing supporter base, over 4,000 social media followers and to date have contributed over $70,000 to Numbat conservation activities. One of our sponsorship opportunities even includes an invitation to attend a Numbat release in December this year.
If you would like any further information please contact us at: info@numbat.org.au
Project Numbat is hosting this year's National Threatened Species Day on Sunday 11 September at Kings Square, Fremantle (near the Town Hall). This is a great opportunity to learn more about the numbat's plight, and about other unique but threatened species in WA.
We are joined this year by the Turtle Oblonga Rescue and Rehabilitation Network, Whiteman Park Woodland Reserve, CCWA, Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre and the Gilberts Potoroo Action Group.
Get your picture taken with Nurla, our cuddly mascot. Find some great gifts at our stall. Enjoy face painting, or get some great stickers and colouring sheets - all whilst supporting the good cause!
When: Sunday September 11 from 10am till 4pm
Where: Kings Square, Fremantle.
It has always been a dream of Project Numbat to see a large Numbat installed in a suitable spot, to attract maximal attention and help raise awareness about the Numbat's plight.
We have found this location and it's in the middle of Numbat country!
The Shire of Williams will be re-developing its Lions Park Playground and a fibreglass Numbat measuring 3m long and 1m high will find its home here.
To help make this come true, Project Numbat is asking the Williams Community and public for their support to raise the necessary $46,000 for the production of this Numbat by the end of December 2017.
For more information and to become involved see our website page 'Williams Community Numbat'
