SAFEGUARDING smallies
By Liz Bell Photos Gary Sissons
T
ucked away on the fringes of suburbia between Mornington and Frankston is a natural wonderland where visitors can see some of Australia’s most remarkable and precious native animals.
Johnson says he imagined a place where people could experience the rare and unusual animals that roam the Australian bush. Each animal has been hand-picked to fulfill his lifelong plan to help halt the rapid extinction of animal species in Australia.
Moonlit Sanctuary – the lifelong hobby of owner Michael Johnson – is a few acres of paradise for nature lovers and a safe and feral-free home to a range of native critters and is playing an important role in education and conservation.
In 1996 he travelled to the Durrell Foundation’s Conservation Academy in Jersey, which had been at the forefront of wildlife preservation for decades. There he took take part in an endangered species breeding course for conservation professionals.
Johnson is the peninsula’s own version of British naturalist Gerald Durrell – or Steve Irwin for younger readers – who has had a fascination and love for Australia’s native animals since he was a boy. He is deservedly proud of the wildlife park he helped build from scratch around 21 years ago. It started small when it opened in 2001, but today there are more than 70 native species at Moonlit Sanctuary, all housed in environments as close to their natural habitat as possible, and all kept secure from predators.
E ssence
26 | PENINSULA
August 2022
In the 1990s, the Johnson family bought a 25-acre former farm and pony club in Pearcedale and began its three-year redevelopment as a sanctuary for native wildlife. Now an ark for endangered creatures, the sanctuary is a living classroom, where staff encourage and help children and adults to unlock the mystery of Australian mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, insects and amphibians in a natural bush setting. continued page 28...