James Fitzgerald is the owner of Kalandan, a property located approximately 50km Northeast of Cooma. The property is a dedicated wildlife sanctuary and a brumby camp for at risk youth. In August 2013 James created the Two Thumbs Wildlife Trust to ensure the sanctuary is financially secure and safe for native wildlife in perpetuity, as well as being open to local wildlife groups as both a pre-release and release site for Australian wildlife species.
The sanctuary covers 356 hectares of mostly untouched bushland, with eucalypt trees, native grasses and bushes being the predominant vegetation types. Wildlife species known to be present on Kalandan include bare-nosed wombats (Vombatus ursinus), koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), common wallaroos (Macropus robustus), swamp (Wallabia bicolor) and red-necked (Macropus rufogriseus) wallabies, spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus), Rosenberg’s (Varanus rosenbergi) and lace (Varanus varius) monitors, platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), and a wide range of native birds.
