•Farmers can remember that wombats only eat a small amount of feed per day – mostly native grasses that sheep and cattle don’t eat.
To help support the southern hairy-nosed wombat you could:
•spread the word that ‘living with wombats’ is easy
•ask adults to drive carefully in areas where wombats live
•report sightings of sick or injured wombats to your local wildlife care organisation
•adopt a wombat or donate to one of the many worthwhile organisations that help wombats (such as the Wombat Awareness Organisation or Safe Haven – AACE).
For more information about wombats, check out:
www.wombatawareness.com
The Wombat Awareness Organisation is a non-profit organisation specialising in the rescue, rehabilitation and advocacy of the southern hairy-nosed wombat. Their website has lots of information and adorable pictures of the wombats they care for, plus ways that you can donate money to help their cause or adopt a wombat.
www.environment.sa.gov.au
On the South Australia Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources website, you’ll find a variety of interesting fact sheets to download, including one about ‘Living with Wombats’. Just type ‘wombats’ into the search section.
www.wombatprotection.org.au
The Wombat Protection Society of Australia is another non-profit organisation which raises money to protect and care for wombats. Their website has some great activities for kids, plus a list of books featuring wombats.
www.conservationvolunteers.com.au
This is the website for Brookfield Conservation Park in South Australia, managed by Conservation Volunteers Australia. It’s one of the few places where the habitat of the southern hairy-nosed wombat is protected. You can visit Brookfield to assist researchers and staff with a range of activities including wombat warren and vegetation surveys.
www.wombania.com
Wombania is a super cool, fun website with wombat facts, games, comic strips, recipes and more! Check it out to find everything you’ve ever needed to know about wombats.
Wombats are adorable but notoriously elusive creatures. Without the help of the following people, Wombat Warriors may well have remained ‘Wombat Wimps’.
Brigitte Stevens and Clare Jans from the Wombat Awareness Organisation not only dedicate their lives to these precious animals, but have been overwhelmingly generous with their time, answering my endless questions despite being the most sleep-deprived people I know.
Spending time with Tricia Curtis and her team from Conservation Volunteers Australia at their Brookfield Conservation Park was also invaluable. They helped me to explore wombat country and to understand the struggle farmers have living with wombats.
Further thanks to Neil Gallant, Queensland Fire and Rescue Services Assistant Commissioner, for advice on rescuing small children from wombat burrows, Archer Yates from Tinana State School for sharing all things ‘ology’, and to the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust for granting me a Creative Time Residential Fellowship in 2016, allowing me the time to research my story.
Finally, a huge thank you to my ever-supportive friends and family, to the wonderful booksellers and readers and fellow Aussie authors for backing me, and to Jo Hunt, Cathy Vallance, Kristy Bushnell and Kristina Schulz – just some of the wonderful team at UQP – for encouraging me every step of the wombatty way.
The author will be donating her profits from this book to wombat rescue and research organisations.
First published 2017 by University of Queensland Press
PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia
www.uqp.com.au
[email protected]
© Samantha Wheeler 2017
This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
Cover design and illustrations by Jo Hunt
Typeset in 12/19 pt Adobe Garamond Pro by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane
The University of Queensland Press is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
Wombat Warriors was developed as part of a Creative Time Residential Fellowship provided by the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust.
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
National Library of Australia
http://catalogue.nla.gov.au
Wheeler, Samantha, author.
Wombat warriors / Samantha Wheeler.
ISBN 978 0 7022 5958 6 (pbk)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5901 2 (pdf)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5902 9 (epub)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5903 6 (kindle)
For primary school age.
Wombats--Juvenile fiction.
Children’s stories.
A823.4
UQP is not responsible for content found on non-UQP websites.
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