Murray and Kay Clarke are the owners of Dulbil Rest, a property situated in Koah, approximately 40km west of Cairns, Queensland. The property is a dedicated wildlife sanctuary and rehabilitation site for orphaned agile wallaby joeys. Murray and Kay aim to continue using the land to support wildlife and rehabilitate animals in care. They also have plans to carry out cool burns with the assistance of local firefighters and Indigenous rangers, and wish to restore the property’s creek banks with native tree plantings.
The property covers 31.46 hectares, backing on to the Bilwon State Forest on the western boundary. The property is comprised of natural forest, with one cleared area of 5 hectares. The front section of the block is divided by Rock Creek, an ephemeral waterway featuring several waterholes.
Vegetation includes regional ecosystem classes 9.11.7b and 7.11.35a, characterised as tall open forests of eucalypt woodland, melaleuca and Cypress pine (Callitris spp.). The property also features screwpine (Pandanus spp.) and various eucalypt species along the riparian zone, with native grass understories.
An abundance of wildlife is present including agile wallabies (Notamacropus agilis), northern bettongs (Bettongia tropica), short-beaked echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus), feathertail (Acrobates pygmaeus) and squirrel (Petaurus norfolcensis) gliders, microbats, lace monitors (Varanus varius) and frilled-neck lizards (Chlamydosaurus kingii).
A wide array of birdlife is also found on the property including sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita), red-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii), rufous owls (Ninox rufa), goshawks, wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax), pheasant coucals (Centropus phasianinus), red-winged parrots (Aprosmictus erythropterus), pale-headed rosellas (Platycercus adscitus), finches, red-backed (Malurus melanocephalus) and lovely (Malurus amabilis) fairy wrens, kingfishers, rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus moluccanus) and rainbow bee-eaters (Merops ornatus).
