18 September 2009 

To coincide with National Threatened Species Day, Healesville Sanctuary has announced its most successful breeding season ever with its threatened species programs.

A record 28 Tasmanian Devil joeys, 34 Helmeted Honeyeaters, 30 Orange-bellied Parrots and 15 Mountain-pygmy Possums births have been celebrated.

This comes in the same year Healesville Sanctuary faced one of its greatest challenges during the Victorian bushfires.

"Our entire threatened species collection was evacuated for the first time in our 75 year history and, for some, it was during their critical breeding season," Mr John Gibbons, Director, Healesville Sanctuary said. "We all feared this may have compromised the programs but we needn't have worried."

A brand new $680,000 breeding facility for Orange-bellied Parrots will also be officially opened tomorrow (Sunday 6 September). It is estimated that there may be less than 90 Orange-bellied Parrots in the wild.

"The Federally-funded facility is state-of-the-art and has been finished just in time for the start of our new breeding season, where we hope to breed more than 30 chicks in the first year, providing a much needed boost to the population," Mr Gibbons said.

"It is so important for us to be playing such an active role in saving some of the world's most endangered animals," Mr Gibbons said.

Healesville Sanctuary's programs aim to restore threatened species to the wild through captive breeding and release coupled with habitat management and restoration.

"It costs more than $1 million every year to manage our threatened species programs: we don't see it as a cost, but rather an investment in our future," Mr Gibbons said.

National Threatened Species Day was first held in 1996, to commemorate the death of the last Tasmanian Tiger in captivity in 1936 in Hobart.