An icon blooms from gladioli
CREATURES of the Gold Coast should be in flap about the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.
The park, which has nurtured, cared for and been home to thousands of native animals great and small, is celebrating 70 years.
The year was 1947 and the name “Gold Coast” was still more than a decade away from being applied to the city when it all started.
After enduring tough times during the war, the Gold Coast was growing again.
Among those who came to the region during the war was New Zealand beekeeper and flower grower Dr Alex Griffiths, who arrived in 1942.
He became known as a pioneer of the coastal strip’s tourist industry but the man who created the sanctuary started out just trying to have an attractive garden.
In 1946, he planted more than 12,000 gladioli bulbs on his 26ha Currumbin property, attracting the interest of the local birdlife, in particular the rainbow lorikeets.
Hundreds of the wild native birds would flock to his yard and peck at the plants, forcing Griffiths to come up with an innovative solution.
Rather than hurt the birds, he began feeding them himself, using bread soaked in honey and water to distract them.
The gladiolas were soon forgotten but the bread proved popular and attracted an even larger flock of birds.
The bird boom and crowds led to the purchase of more land and gradually other animals arrived.
The Currumbin Bird Sanctuary was founded in 1947 and gained international attention as one of the region’s great drawcards.
The park’s collection of animals grew and other attractions were added, including Dr Griffiths’ model railway in 1964. By 1976 he handed the site to the National Trust of Queensland, which turned it into a not-for-profit business where all the money raised goes back into the park.
The park was renamed Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in 1995, the same year its founder was awarded an honorary doctorate by Griffith University as a tribute to his work and commitment to the preservation of Australia’s fauna and flora
More than 1200 birds and other creatures lived in the sanctuary by the time of its 50th anniversary in 1997.
Dr Griffiths died in a Gold Coast hospital in 1998 after being admitted suffering pneumonia. He was 86.
Still one of the Gold Coast’s most popular attractions, the sanctuary and many of its early features, including Dr Grif- fiths’ model railway, the rainforest pool aviary and the former rock shop, were listed on the state heritage register in 2009 during Queensland’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
Dr Griffiths’ original steam train was restored in late 2011 to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth.
More than $2 million is being spent this year to revamp the aviary and other features in the sanctuary ahead of next year’s Commonwealth Games.
The classic lorikeets remain one of its most popular attractions.