Project RECAP – this is the most crucial campaign in Bonorong's history, and we need your help. 

We cannot achieve this outcome on our own.  The wonderful part of this opportunity to be a part of history is that every dollar you give will be matched by a generous donor up to $1M, so your donation goes twice as far. We know this is an ambitious task – but so too have been a number of our past achievements, often being Tasmanian firsts, and have been achieved by striving for excellence for wildlife rather than accepting adequate. We thank the Elsie Cameron Foundation for being an extremely generous donor and matching up to $1M dollars - dollar for dollar - so let us use this opportunity!

What is Project RECAP?  

As many of you will know, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary already has the only fully dedicated wildlife hospital in Tasmania and coordinates Tasmania’s first and only 24-hour, state-wide wildlife rescue service. Project RECAP is a plan to build our rehabilitation capacity for an ever-growing number of animals that need our help. 15,000 animals needed our assistance in some form last year, and that number is growing by an extra 500-1000 more animals than the year before, every year. It is a plan to build a large new hospital, rescue and rehabilitation facility, as well as associated buildings for treatment and husbandry services, for wildlife that will see us prepared for the next decade and able to handle the predicted number of animals needing assistance. 

Another crucial element of Project RECAP is the delivery of many more specialised areas within the hospital and rehabilitation base.  Areas such as a sterile surgery for long and detailed operations, an ICU for animals in critical condition and recovery, a pharmacy, a quarantine area for animals with potentially infectious diseases, a purpose-built area for critical care and rescue coordination, just to name a few.  

Aside from the build, what else will Project RECAP support?

Bonorong is unique in that we really are able to help with all aspects of wildlife rescue and care.  From the moment someone finds an injured animal, we are there to help. Our sensational community of rescuers can then collect the animal, and if deemed to need specialist assistance, our hospital is there to help. From there, and with great thanks to these dedicated humans, wildlife rehabilitators take many animals on and nurse them back to health or adulthood before releasing them back into the wild.  

Many animals, however, need regular veterinary check-ups as part of their journey or a very specialised set-up for the critical care or rehabilitation stages, which is where some of our rescue, medical, critical care and rehabilitation teams can step in and work their magic.  

The number of people and dedicated teams needed to coordinate and operate a service like ours is very vast - hence, having a team of 75 staff and growing. It may take a village to raise a child, but it also takes an army to save an animal once every little step is factored in. The extra funds we need to raise on top of the build costs will be needed to fund these specialist teams and extend the hours that we are able to help.

Recovery from tough times!

As many of you will also be aware, COVID has been a very tough time for us – with most of our funding being from guests coming through the front gates, which simply dried up. We made the bold decision to continue our full services over this period whilst knowing that without money coming in, we would have to take loans to keep rescuing wildlife in need. So, financially, that has been a huge hit for us; however, some 45,000 calls over that period are all individual animals that were not forgotten and left behind. That figure, and the fact we found a way throughout the COVID period, is something we are incredibly proud of but acutely aware that to keep up with the animals needing help, we now need your help more than ever before. 

Project RECAP is a chance to give back to wildlife and be a part of history. In a world where wildlife increasingly comes second, we can still strive to achieve more for them and change that direction.  Help us build a facility that can cope with the added numbers needing help with the scale we expect in ten years time, and help to fund the running of our wildlife care teams. Be part of a project that changes the world for wildlife.

MEDIA COVERAGE

Pulse Hobart Coverage

https://pulsehobart.com.au/news/bonorong-on-1-million-fundraising-mission-for-new-animal-hospital/

News Coverage

https://fb.watch/o2UP6QG-94/

Featuring Project RECAP 19:15 - 23:38

https://www.listnr.com/podcasts/triple-m-breakfast-hobart/episodes/thur-2-nov-parliament-backs-tassies-salmon-industr?fbclid=PAAaZsIPnNdmZPXfmmuGPrzIx3fdgYkemu0cvOiceokJT3bRHZmQ4jhaSabbY_aem_ARZmVseoaJlUBBBBoVz5JTsfhPzBsgHxjH6qyiemKxCnIqwgWbyweCqs0A_ZJFxeUZE

Project RECAP featured from 26:04 - 44:00

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/hobart-drive/hobart-drive/103029330

https://omny.fm/shows/hit1009/the-podcast-getaway-legend-catriona-rowntree-an-am?t=17m2s

https://soundcloud.com/ultra1065fm/new-bonorong-hospital

Newspaper article - Subscription needed for full article https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/bonorong-wildlife-sanctuary-launches-project-recap-aims-to-raise-2-million-for-vital-upgrades/news-story/357daf06bf62c286cd384a5f570a4227

We are fortunate to have a dollar-for-dollar matching donor - so every dollar given is worth double up to $1M!

The hospital, rescue and rehabilitation centre build in itself is going to cost well over $1.5M.  We are very greatful to the Elsie Cameron Foundation for their matching dollar support, up to $1M - and for recognising the importance of this mammoth project. Building a facility big enough to see the number of animals predicted over the next decade, as well as making sure those facilities are the perfect design for our wildlife care teams to engage in best practices at all times, is an expensive business. Project RECAP requires a number of very specialised rooms, from specialist surgery areas to ICU, quarantine and x-rays areas.  This facility has been designed to support the vast array of situations our wildlife may face in their time of need, and will provide an amalgamation point for all of our medical, rescue and rehabilitation teams to work together for the desired outcomes for wildlife.

If we are lucky enough to beat our minimum targets, the next support we need is to help us fund the teams that drive the programs.  We call these our primary care teams.  These teams are - the hospital team, the critical care team, the rehabilitation team, and the rescue coordination team. It is a complex machine pulling it all together, and our hope is not only to maintain our current hours but to expand the hours of the hospital so that animals can be seen sooner without waiting overnight, often with painful injuries needing urgent attention.

The cost of running these over the years is infinite sadly.  But to give an idea - last year our wildlife services cost 1.6 million dollars - and that is just one year without extending the hours as we hope to - so any assistance to help to deliver these services is deeply appreciated.