Our native wildlife have a fighting chance at survival following an awesome summer holidays at Australia Zoo!

Daily silent auctions gave visitors the chance to bid for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in one of our amazing animal encounters alongside Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin, with all money raised going to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital.

A whopping $48,500 was raised by the end of the summer school holidays - a new zoo record! Families from all over Australia (and some from overseas!) dug deep into their pockets for the chance to get up close and personal with our gorgeous elephants, echidnas, lemurs and Tasmanian devils.

Over 7500 sick, injured and orphaned native Australian animals were admitted to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital in 2011. The FREE wildlife treatment facility is the largest of its kind in Australia, and operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The hospital receives no state or federal government funding, and while Australia Zoo covers all administrative costs, the hospital relies solely on public donations to continue operating.

Check out www.wildlifewarriors.org.au/wildlife_hospital for more information or to donate.

A massive thank you to everyone who took part in the silent auctions!

Its been a great summer so far for Africa with our newest paddock member Sally the giraffe having made her public debut a week or so before Christmas.

Sally came from Monarto Zoo in South Australia and spent a few months in a quiet area off display where she could complete her quarantine period while settling into her new home. Sally was very shy when she arrived and took a long time to work up the courage to approach any of her keepers. Eventually, after lots of quiet time spent with her, she started coming up and handfeeding from us and from there she gained lots of confidence.

This was the first hurdle but we were quite worried about the next, even bigger hurdle - getting her out into a paddock with a boisterous group of rhinos out there! The last thing we wanted was for Sally to get frightened in an unfamiliar environment and possibly hurt herself in a panic. Fortunately, at around about the time we were starting to think about getting Sally out into the paddock, we had created a second giraffe yard inside the paddock. This yard gives us somewhere safe to call the giraffe into when the rhinos feel like a hoon around the paddock - those crazy rhinos can cause mayhem!

This also gave us the perfect opportunity to give Sally a first look at the paddock with the rhinos and zebra on the other side of the fence! Once she was relaxed here, we gave the rhinos a couple of days to chill out the back while we let Sally explore her new paddock. After a tentative first day, Sally has soared in confidence and follows her mates Forrest, Penny and Rosie around like she's been here from the start! She is such a sweet girl and so polite, always waiting back while we put food out for the group - not like her greedy friends! She's also met the rhino and zebra and took all of this in her stride.

So keep your eyes out next time you visit Africa at Australia Zoo - Sally is the gorgeous girl with light coloured spots and a short tail!

A massive summer school holidays was topped off this week with Charlie the 12ft saltwater crocodile being fed a whole wild boar carcass in the Crocoseum!

Terri, Bindi and Robert watched in awe as Wes tossed Charlie the boar on a rope, and after several minutes of tugging and death-rolling, Charlie won the day.

It was the very first time we have ever showcased a whole animal feed in the Crocoseum, and the packed stands were enthralled for almost half an hour while Charlie dismantled his lunch.

Because the pig was too large for Charlie to swallow whole, he first needed to loosen it up with his immense teeth and jaw pressure. After that, all it took was a few headshakes, and voilà! Charlie must have thought it was Christmas all over again.

Feeding our crocs whole carcasses is really important to keep them active and stimulated, as it mimics their natural behaviour and is how they would feed in the wild.

Charlie, who weighs around 350kg, was rescued from a facility north of Australia Zoo in 2002 by Steve, Terri, Wes and the croc crew. He and Steve later perfected the tail-walk demonstration, prompting Steve to choose Charlie to appear in many scenes of his movie Collision Course.

The results are in. Australia Zoo has been voted the Best Attraction and Best Eco Holiday in the 2012 Best of Australian Travel People's Choice Awards, featured in Out & About With Kids magazine.

Voters were impressed by our gorgeous animals and awesome animal encounters, especially the chance to see Savannah the baby white rhino in our new Africa exhibit, as well as the incredible life-saving work done at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital.

The zoo's motto of "Conservation through exciting education" seems to be ringing true, with voters thrilled at the chance to get hands on with the animals and learn more about what they can do to protect their wild cousins.

Our region's beautiful beaches and hinterland also made an appearance in the awards, with the Sunshine Coast named a finalist for Best Destination.

A massive thank you to everyone who voted! For a full list of winners and finalists, visit the Out & About With Kids website:

http://www.outandaboutwithkids.com.au/out-about-with-kids-readers-choice-awards-the-best-of-australia-family-travel

Fleet the koala, who was shot by a slug gun in October last year, unfortunately lost his battle for life this past Wednesday.

Fleet was brought to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital on Thursday 13 October 2011, with seven pellets littered throughout his body; one pellet lodged in his skull/nasal cavity, lower back and behind his ear as well as one pellet in each limb.

Three pellets located close to the surface were initially removed, but those those that were lodged deeper into Fleet's skull and body were deemed too high risk to remove and their location did not initially pose a direct risk to his survival.

After two months of treatment, the pellet that was lodged in Fleet's nasal cavity became infected, and despite strong antibiotic therapy and attempted removal he was unable to beat the infection associated with it.

A CT scan was done to assess the location of the pellet in his nasal cavity and facilitate attempted removal of the pellet in his skull, with the aim to clear up the chronic infection.

Because the bacteria were so resistant to any antibiotics, the only option was to remove the source of infection (the pellet). Fleet had lost a significant amount of body condition in association with the infection.

Surgery proceeded yesterday to remove the pellet, however unfortunately, before completion of the surgery Fleet's heart stopped, and despite the best efforts of the vets and nurses at Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, Fleet was unable to be revived.
It is likely that the significant infection associated with the slug gun pellet and Fleet's subsequent poor body condition contributed to his death.

Vet Amber Gillett said staff at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital worked tirelessly to save the famous little koala.

"From the start the biggest risk to Fleet's survival was infection. We got it under control in his foot after weeks of antibiotics and debridement on his foot, but his nasal infection did not respond, hence why the decision was made to remove the pellet to eliminate this source of infection." she said.

"Surgery to remove deeply embedded pellets is risky and is generally not necessary if they don't pose a direct risk to survival of the patient, hence why these were left where they were to begin with. Once infection sets in however, removal of these pellets can become part of the treatment to help clear up the infection."

"We are committed to saving every single animal here at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital and it is deeply emotional and upsetting to lose one of our patients.

"I am personally deeply saddened by the loss of this koala. Every animal we treat gets a little piece of us and we often feel a personal attachment to them making losing them all the harder.

"It angers me beyond belief that someone could heartlessly shoot and leave for dead one of our protected species, and our national icon. Our koalas are at serious risk of extinction in south east QLD and it is devastating to lose one to such a cowardly act of cruelty.

"In particular though, we are devastated to lose Fleet. He was a fighter and our greatest wish was to return him as a healthy koala into the wild.

"A special mention must be made to all of those people that donated to the Wildlife Hospital to help Fleet's treatment. Without the support of the public - he would never have stood a chance.

"We still have not caught Fleet's shooter and his death should send a strong message about the severity of animal cruelty and malicious intent on our native protected wildlife." Dr Gillett said.

To donate to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, please donate to the link below.
www.everydayhero.com.au/event/koala

Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should
contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.

Staff at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital urge the public to call their 24-hr wildlife emergency hotline on 1300 369 652 for any wildlife emergencies.

Background on Fleet
On Thursday 13 October 2011, the Australia Zoo Rescue Unit responded to a call for help from Moreton Bay Koala Rescue Inc. regarding an injured koala in Kippa-ring, north of Brisbane, which had sustained facial injuries of which the cause was unknown.

The male koala named Fleet was assessed by wildlife veterinarian Dr Amber Gillett. Assessment revealed a six year old male koala who sustained injuries consistent with a slug gun. X-rays revealed seven pellets littered throughout his body; one pellet lodged in his skull, lower back and behind his ear as well as one pellet in each limb.

On Thursday 20 October Fleet 2011 underwent further assessment by Dr Amber Gillett, who checked him over and cleaned up his wounds following surgery to remove three pellets.

After many weeks of cleansing and bandaging his infected foot Fleet's wounds appeared to be slowly but surely healing and he was moved out of the Intensive Care Unit and into an outdoor enclosure at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital to continue his recovery.

Australian broadcaster ABC has commissioned FremantleMedia Australia to produce a brand new TV series - Bindi's Bootcamps - in association with Sydney-based Sticky Pictures, which was shot on location here at Australia Zoo in Queensland, Australia.

Hosted by Bindi Irwin (Bindi: The Jungle Girl), Bindi's Bootcamp offers young adventurers the chance to get up close to wildlife and prove they have what it takes to become an official ‘Wildlife Warrior'. Three teams will join Bindi on an action -packed adventure into the wild. Across zoo, jungle, safari and savannah locations, competitors will test their knowledge, inner strength and endurance to their limits. This is the only show where kids can experience close-up wildlife encounters, endure physical and mental challenges, and have lots of messy fun along the way. The contestants will start as animal lovers and, if they have what it takes to pass Bindi's challenges, leave as ‘Wildlife Warriors'.

To get the FULL SCOOP check out the January edition of Crikey! Mag.

Or you can join the Zoo Club and get a 4 edition subscription to Crikey! Mag with your membership!

Giraffes, rhinos and zebras are now just a hop, skip and a jump away, with a new walking track to Australia Zoo's Africa exhibit opening on Boxing Day.

The new 700m track means our guests have the option to experience the African savannah at their leisure, which will be great for families visiting over the school holidays.

Regular local visitors in particular can also make the most of the new access to the exhibit, which offers different views and corners of the zoo to explore.

Following the 24 acre exhibit's official opening in September the track will link guests from the Tiger Temple in South East Asia to the African savannah.

Safari shuttles to and from the exhibit will continue over the busy holiday period, but the new walking track will provide visitors to the zoo greater flexibility in organising their day.

Check out the new walking track on the Zoo Map

Crikey! What an exciting month's its been for big boy Bashii, one of six Sumatran tigers at Australia Zoo, when none other than Santa Claus stopped by to deliver some early Christmas presents to the Tiger Temple. Earlier in the month, Bashii celebrated his fourth birthday with a visit from the "Fighting Tigers" of the Australian Royal Navy and although Santa will be busy on Christmas Eve delivering presents to homes all around the world, Christmas Day was celebrated a little early at Australia Zoo as he made a quick visit to deliver gifts that would make any cat happy, let alone an excited 115kg Sumatran tiger!

Australia Zoo's Head of Tigers and International Conservation Manager Giles Clark said the gifts from Santa didn't last long with Bashii. "From the moment Santa entered the Tiger Temple, Bashii was ready to pounce on the big bag of gifts that included milk treats and blow up Christmas trees and balls for the pool. Like any four year old, Bashii was pretty excited to see Santa and they didn't last very long," Giles said.

Australia Zoo is in the fight to save the critically endangered species and work continues with supporting the Flora and Fauna International tiger protection and conservation units (TPCUs) around Kerinci Seblat National Park in Sumatra.

You can make a difference to tiger conservation by sponsoring Australia Zoo's Sumatran Tiger Conservation Project or by adopting one of our awesome tigers.

On the November 29th Carolyn Male MP, Member for Pine Rivers made a speech in state Parliament to urge the Department of Environment to refuse a Scientific Purposes Permit which would allow the harvest of wild crocodile eggs from Western Cape York.

In her speech Carolyn raised concerns about harvesting wild populations of crocodile eggs for research.

"The removal of crocodile eggs at any stage means those eggs have NO chance to become fully grown crocodiles as opposed to some chance."

"Harvest wild crocodile eggs, hatch them, grow them to a certain size, kill them to make handbags and matching shoes - then see what effect this has on the population and survival of our vulnerable crocodiles."

Australia Zoo shares this position and proudly fights against lethal research, wildlife consumption and trade, and urges everyone to refuse to purchase or eat any wildlife products, including crocodile, kangaroo and emu. Say no to wildlife products.

Read the full speech here.

Sponsor our Crocodile Conservation Project

Terri, Bindi and Robert recently accepted a cheque for $40,000 donated to Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors by Brett McFall, an online marketing guru who held a seminar on the Gold Coast in late November.

Brett recently visited Australia Zoo and the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital with his family, and was so inspired he decided to use his annual event to raise much-needed funds to support the facility, which last year treated over 8600 animals.

All proceeds from ticket sales were donated to the hospital, and attendants to the seminar were treated to a special guest appearance by Terri, Bindi and Robert. A lucky few donated extra money and were rewarded with the awesome chance to have lunch with the family.

The SuccessSpeed online marketing seminar was held at the Gold Coast International Hotel from 25-27 November, focusing on teaching participants how to set up their own internet business. The seminar was unique in that it provided three weeks of training prior to the 3-day event itself, followed up by three weeks of post-training. Charities supported in previous years include CanTeen and SIDS and Kids.

A MASSIVE thank you to Brett for his support!