Our Reserves

Wombats SA, (previously the Natural History Society of South Australia), manages and maintains six sanctuary reserves through volunteer effort. They have a total area of around 7,772 ha.

Five of these reserves – Moorunde, Wombat Camp, Nardoo, Lake Short and Malurus Reserves – are clustered together in the Western Mid-Murray Plains between Swan Reach and Blanchetown, about 100km north-east of Adelaide. This is a dry, semi-arid region, which, prior to land clearing, was dominated by vast areas of mallee gums – some of which remain, but much of which is regrowth. It is home to a wide variety of native plants and animals well adapted to the hot, dry conditions, including  Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons).

Collectively, our five northern properties cover around 7,220 hectares making them the largest reserved area of its type in the Murray Mallee and are home to one of the world’s largest populations of Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats on a private property. Numbers of wombats protected by our reserves vary due to changes in conditions, but we estimate there are around 2,000 Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats or more on these five reserves most of the time.

Our properties, together with Brookfield Conservation Park to the north, Yookamurra Sanctuary to the south and numerous smaller private heritage-protected properties, form an extension protection corridor for the native plants and animals of this wonderfully unique and diverse region.

We also own and manage Cullen Reserve, a  sanctuary property near Robe on the limestone coast, about 300km south-east of Adelaide. This area of South Australia is cooler than the harsh dry northern, central and western regions of the state. Numerous native plants and animals not found in the dryer regions inhabit this area including the Bare-nosed Wombat (Vombatus ursinus).