Jirrahlinga Koala & Wildlife Sanctuary cares for injured wildlife and is home to a wide range of native Australian wildlife including koalas, kangaroos, emus, dingoes and birds.
Courtesy of Australian of the Year Awards:
Tehree Gordon developed a close affinity for animals as a child. In 1974 she purchased a five-acre property near Barwon Heads in Victoria and started a refuge for injured Australian wildlife. Three decades later the Jirrahlinga Koala and Wildlife Sanctuary houses over three hundred native animals and continues to nurse distressed and injured kangaroos, koalas, possums, birds and penguins back to health.
Tehree is equally committed to the well being of her fellow humans, recognising that her animals can bring joy and healing to people in need. Jirrahlinga regularly hosts abused and disadvantaged children, building their self-esteem through interaction with the animals.
Disabled people are also welcomed and Tehree administers a volunteer program providing care for pets of the ill and elderly. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in her mid-fifties, Tehree knows the importance of care and support.
Jirrahlinga is aboriginal for "seek a home for a kangaroo".
Following the Ash Wednesday Bush fires in 1983, Jirrahlinga received national and international media coverage acclaiming the rescue mission launched to seek out and treat shocked and burnt animals.
But Jirrahlinga is not just for distressed native animals.
It is primarily about people. Particularly people who have a disability, a special need, the frail or the aged.
What better therapy could there be than to come into a supportive environment to work quietly with animals or just visit and touch a koala or joey that do not place demands on a person's physical or mental capacities.
This is the secret of Jirrahlinga.
- Category:
- Non-profit organization