Hobart, 13 December 2018 – In a significant move to help protect Tasmanian wildlife, Hobart Airport and Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary have teamed up to put a spot light on the protection of wildlife while using Tasmanian roads, for both tourists and Tasmanians alike.
Welcoming in over 60% of visitors every year, with many of these visitors going on to hire a car, there is an incredible opportunity to use Tasmania’s primary gateway to educate people on their arrival, before they hit our roads.
The partnership aims to drive mass awareness in order to prevent unnecessary animal deaths on our roads and eliminate potentially dangerous situations for motorists. This is something both organizations see as crucial for Tasmania moving forward.
“Tasmania has the unfortunate title of being the road kill capital of the world and the fact is that some simple messaging and taking some really simple steps could reduce the road kill numbers by tens of thousands every single year.
We are talking significant numbers not just a handful.” said Greg Irons, Director of Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.
Bonorong’s staff and rescuers deal with the impacts of vehicles every day and see the horrific injuries and damage vehicles do.
“If people worked with us for just one day, and saw what we see, I have no doubt they would change their driving habits immediately, we have to stop this being an “out of sight – out of mind issue” as the problem is getting worse every year, it really is disheartening” Greg Said.
Hobart Airport first approached Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary about six months ago looking for ways to help.
Hobart Airport CEO Sarah Renner said that Hobart Airport has a unique opportunity with over 2.6 million people using the Airport every year.
“We are Tasmania’s busiest access point, a privilege and responsibility that we take very seriously.” Ms Renner said.
“Our arrivals hall provides the perfect platform to educate people about how much wildlife they may encounter in Tasmania. By being proactive with this message we can help to minimize their chances of having an accident and potentially harming an animal and/or themselves.”
The major campaign has been enabled by the airports recently launched ‘Caring is in our Nature’ program.
‘Furry Feathered Friends Alert’ heroes an Australian icon, a wallaby, and is built around two characters – Wendy and Walter. As a mother wallaby holds her joey in her pouch, it draws attention to the fact that losing one life may in reality, actually be two.
The characteristics of a wallaby are easily identifiable and present a perfect photo opportunity for passing travellers to spread the message digitally.
The hashtag #watchoutforwildlife helps to clearly articulate the key message, with the digital screen allowing visitors access to more detailed information about Tasmanian wildlife and how to keep our Furry Feathered Friends safe.
The hope is that other tourism businesses jump on board with their own Wendy and Walter activations to further drive home some simple key messages around reducing road kill on Tasmanian roads.
RACT and The Wilderness Society, whom both have recently done a campaign to prevent roadkill, both support the initiative, hoping it will reach a different market of people with the same messages.
“These messages just cannot be shared enough” Said Vica Bayley, Tasmanian Campaign Manager with the Wilderness Society. “The impact is so visually obvious to us every single day driving the roads and seeing it in Tasmania, and we need to not just accept it, but do whatever we can to prevent it. We will support the sharing of these messages and activations whenever we can”
Will Oakley is the Community Manager at RACT. “Every year we see an increased number of incidents due to wildlife. It is dangerous for wildlife and motorists alike. We support any initiative that sees safer conditions on our roads.” Will said.
