A new native wildlife hospital has opened at Wing’s Wildlife Park in the north-west to replace the old facility that was destroyed during devastating floods in October 2022.
The North-West Community Wildlife Hospital was made possible by a $420,000 grant from the Australian and Tasmanian Governments under the jointly funded Community Assets Program.
The jointly funded grant enabled the park to rebuild the not-for-profit hospital from the ground up, including the construction of the building, electrical work, plumbing and fit out.
The hospital is the region’s only facility of its kind and its rebuild is part of a wider $15 million support package to assist the recovery of flood-impacted Tasmanian communities.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the investment in the hospital is a testament to the resilience of the park since the floods.
“It’s fantastic that we can invest on behalf of the community to see a much-loved animal hospital back on its feet to care for our much-loved native wildlife,” he said.
“This is an iconic institution for the north-west region but more broadly, Tasmania, Australia. We have visitors from across the globe that come here to experience Tasmanian native wildlife.”
Senator Anne Urquhart said it was very sad to see the damage to the old hospital during the floods.
“Congratulations to both Colin and Megan [and] all the staff here who persisted through that time to make sure that not only did the hospital get to reopen but the whole park actually got to reopen,” she said.
“That was a real concern for a period of time whether or not they could actually pick up from that and move on.”
“We’ve got a bigger, better facility here … there’s a lot of support that’s needed so people get on board and come and get behind this fantastic, iconic tourism area right here in beautiful north-west Tasmania.”
The state government also committed an additional $300,000 to further support Wing’s Wildlife Park in their recent election promises.
