Return to Eden

Watch a Quicktime video clip (2mb file) of Kanyana from Return to Eden. (right-click and select "save as...")

Shown on the ABC on 27th June at 10pm.

In the North West of Australia, a slender peninsular juts into the Indian Ocean at Shark Bay. Once a quiet wilderness, the Peron Peninsula has recently become the centre of a visionary campaign. "Project Eden" is attempting to bring back animals from the brink of extinction and return them to their former home.

Within the last 200 years, Peron, like much of Australia, has undergone a transformation with the arrival of European settlers. Land clearance, farming, and the introduction of a host of feral animals - foxes, cats, goats and rabbits - all resulted in catastrophic change. Some native species were lost forever. Others like the marsupial bilby hung on in isolated pockets.

On the Peron Peninsular, help is at hand. The bilby is being assisted by government and volunteers to return to its former territory. An electric fence now seals the peninsular off from the rest of the continent. Inside, Project Eden utilises the latest in biological and technological eradication techniques to remove the ferals from within.

Meanwhile in 'safe houses', young natives are being reared. June Butcher, retired nurse, runs a captive bilby colony on the out skirts of Perth. With the help of cameras that see in the dark of the bilby burrow, she witnesses, for the first time ever, the remarkable life cycle of this nocturnal marsupial destined for release into the wild.

However, the battle of the ferals begins to outwit the Project Eden team. With the fox all but eliminated, the cat now dominates the peninsular. A prolific breeder, its numbers soar to unprecedented levels. This unforeseen problem challenges the team's ingenuity to the limit.

As the day of the bilby release draws closer, will the peninsular provide the promised haven for the bilbies to safely Return to Eden?

Aussie Animal Rescue

Episode 1 - 6 aired on the ABC weekly starting on Saturday 6 July 2002 at 6.30pm. And Episode 7 - 13 aired on the ABC weekly starting on 5 October 2002 at 6.30pm.
Aussie Animal Rescue - a dramatic and touching series that enters the heart-warming world of wildlife rescuers in Australia.

Australia is home to some of the most unusual animals on the planet. But with increasing urban development humans and animals are coming into conflict and many native species are at risk. But help is at hand. On call 24 hours a day carers are on stand-by to rescue native animals. Aussie Animal Rescue follows the dramatic and extraordinary stories of dedicated wildlife rescuers in their efforts to save Australian wild animals.

Across the country, from vet surgeries to people's living rooms, from wildlife hospitals to suburban backyards, native animals are being cared for. And it takes a very special person to look after wild animals. This series reveals the commitment and dedication that so many possess. One woman embodies the true nature of animal rescue. For over 30 years June Butcher has run one of the largest wildlife hospitals in Australia. With over 90 volunteers June and her team, work tirelessly around the clock caring for injured and orphaned wild animals.

When venomous snakes are found in people's houses they call people like Bruce George, who rescue snakes from people's homes, and he does it all for free. Australia has some of the deadliest snakes in the world and when Bruce gets a snake call the adrenalin starts pumping. As he rushes to the scene in his mind is the knowledge that having been bitten several times before he is more susceptible to the potentially deadly bite from a highly venomous snake.

In suburban Perth in Western Australia, lives the 'mad roo lady'. Robyn Foley cares for baby kangaroos or joeys and with as many as thirteen in the house it's a full time job. Feeding time is particularly hectic taking up to four hours a day. With orphan joeys so dependent on their human carers for survival, looking after them has changed Robyn's life. She takes her 'babies' everywhere with her, even to do the weekly shopping! Many of the joeys stay with Robyn for up to eighteen months and in that time the emotional bond between animal and carer becomes very strong. For Robyn when it's time to say goodbye and release the kangaroo back into the wild, it is a moment filled with mixed emotions.

Every year around the coast of Australia either exhausted or injured seal pups are washed up on the beaches. At the Aquarium of Western Australia marine mammal specialist Gloria Jackson heads a team set up to care for rescued marine animals. For Gloria returning an animal back into the wild is what animal rescue is all about.

Aussie Animal Rescue enters the extraordinary world of Australian wildlife rescuers and reveals the true spirit of people's love for animals.