Tara has quoll lot to do
A PASSION for protecting wildlife resulted in Tara Hoffman filling both her home and garden with animal enclosures.
It was an easy decision for the wildlife carer who wanted to give her furry, feathered and scaled mates the best chance of survival.
“My whole yard is dedicated to wildlife. I’ve got aviaries both inside and out,” Ms Hoffman said.
She started volunteering at the North Queensland Wildlife Care centre more than two years ago.
“I’ve always wanted to do it. I have a passion for endangered species,” she said.
“It’s great to see them being released back in the wild.”
One of her favourite success stories was helping a rare and endangered quoll back to health last month.
She said quolls were short lived so it was a privilege to see it run back into the wild.
“A dog had caught it. We checked it and kept it for a couple of weeks,” she said.
“We’ve had two this year, it’s quite rare.
“I think we stopped every- thing to have a look quoll).”
Quolls, like many other of the native animals Ms Hoffman and the rest of the team look after and rehabilitate are nocturnal.
She said caring for such animals meant working “all ( at the hours of the day and night”. This work included venturing into the wild to collect native food.
Ms Hoffman said she had to buy all the animals’ food, medication and shelters.
She said it was “struggle” balancing her day job of a disability carer but donations were a brilliant help.
The North Queensland Wildlife Care will showcase this work at the weekend when it opens its doors for an open day.
The centre will officially unveil its new branding and promote what it does on Saturday from 10am to 2pm.
The centre is at 25 Aitken St, Aitkenvale.