By JESSE GRAHAM
HEALESVILLE Sanctuary will be downsizing its venomous snakes display to two animals, and moving them out of its Reptile House in the near future.
But Director, Glen Holland, has moved to dismiss rumours of the display closing altogether, after an online petition was launched to stop the move.
Woori Yallock man, John Marsh, recently launched an online, titled, ‘Healesville Sanctuary are removing the Venomous Snake display, we need to stop this!’
He wrote on the petition page that the display was to be removed, and said the display should grow, rather than leave the sanctuary.
“Native snakes are part of the environment, and as such should be part of the displays at the sanctuary,” the petition read.
As of Thursday, 31 March, 244 people had signed the petition, out of a goal of 500.
Healesville Sanctuary director, Glen Holland, said that venomous snakes would still be displayed at the sanctuary, with the Eastern Tiger Snake and Lowland Copperhead to be displayed at the Australian Wildlife Health Centre.
“These are the ones we see most commonly around Victoria, and want to engage our visitors to better understand how to live with them in the wild,” Mr Holland said.
Four other venomous snakes currently at the sanctuary will be re-homed to other Australian zoos, and some enclosures still in the Reptile House, where the snakes are currently housed, will be made bigger.
Mr Holland said non-venomous snakes would still be on display at the sanctuary, and said that moving the animals to the hospital would help people to understand their relationship with them.
“We see many injured venomous snakes each year at our Australian Wildlife Health Centre, and most of these injuries are caused directly or indirectly by humans,” he said.
“So it makes sense that we move our venomous snakes to the Health Centre at the sanctuary – this means out vet staff can talk directly to our visitors about threats to venomous snake welfare in the wild.”
Mr Holland said the sanctuary was organising a new exhibit, Nightlife, focusing on nocturnal Australian mammals – the reduction in venomous snakes, he said, would give keepers more time to get the exhibit underway.
But Mr Marsh said he had a source that said the move to the hospital was not going to happen, and that all of the venomous snakes would be removed completely.
He said he thought the display should not be downsized at all.
“It’s hugely important, I think,” Mr Marsh said.
“We’ve got the deadliest snakes in the world … that’s what people come to see.”
“They want to see the koalas, they want to see the kangaroos, but the snakes and the reptile life is just as important in my opinion.”
The Mail contacted the sanctuary a second time with Mr Marsh’s concerns, but Mr Holland said the rumour about closing the display was “simply not true”.
“It isn’t, and never has been, our intention,” he said.
Mr Holland said there was not a set timeline for the move to the AWHC.
“Designing world-class exhibits always takes time, and we never rush anything like this,” he said.
The petition can be seen at chn.ge/25xjaix.
