July 27th, 2020
Melbourne’s award-winning wildlife park, Moonlit Wildlife Sanctuary, is alive with the pitter-patter of little paws this week after welcoming two seven-week-old alpine dingoes.
Puppy school for dingoes is a little different from what your average baby canine attends and without having visitors to help the young animals interact with humans, the entire Moonlit team is involved to get them accustomed to being around people.
Life Sciences Manager, Lisa Tuthill said, “We can’t wait to share these two new additions to the Sanctuary with our visitors once COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted but until then we’re all pulling together to make sure there’s always a staff member with them ready to play! Luckily, it’s such a fun job that we’ve had no complaints”, she added.
“Like most pups, they love to play and enjoy a bit of rough and tumble. They play just like regular puppies and are into everything they can possibly reach,” Ms Tuthill said.
To celebrate the arrival of the new pups, the Sanctuary is running a naming competition. “We’ve involved the public, encouraging them to suggest names for the new puppies,” Ms Tuthill said. The winner receives a dingo puppy adoption, a puppy encounter, a dingo plush toy as well as a Moonlit Sanctuary double pass to visit once the Sanctuary re-opens.
Moonlit Sanctuary is an active wildlife conservation park and the new dingoes will aid in educating visitors about the importance of the species within the eco-system and dispel myths that they are a pest.
“The dingo plays a very important role in the Australian eco-system,” said Michael Johnson, Owner and Founder of Moonlit Sanctuary. “Recent research shows that dingoes keep feral predators like foxes and cats at bay, and so protect many other endangered species.”
“Education plays a vital role in empowering all our visitors to be environmental champions. It is our hope that each connection creates awareness of an animal’s plight, and that we can all help halt their extinction,” added Mr Johnson.
Once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, the public will be able to enjoy a close-up play date with this awesome pawsome. Puppy Encounters will be available to visitors but numbers will be limited.
