On Saturday 22 October, in celebration of International Wombat Day, WILD LIFE Sydney is inviting guests to come and observe the entertaining traits of Ringo the bare-nosed wombat, and friends, for a friendly game of Ringo Bingo and to chat with keepers about threats to his species.
“Ringo digging”, “Grooming” and “Eating corn” are a few of the behaviours guests can enjoy from Ringo and friends, denoted on the squares of the Ringo Bingo card, with the first player to cross off a line of five, the winner.
At 9 years old and weighing in at 35kgs, Ringo was found as an orphaned baby, adopted and hand-raised by WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo, where he now lives with five Yellow-footed Rock-wallabies at Wallaby Cliffs.
Katherine Tanks, keeper at WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo said; “Ringo is a superstar and so loved by the team here at WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo in Darling Harbour. Our boisterous boy has tonnes of personality and endearing behaviours.
“We love to see him scratching up against all the different “furniture” in his exhibit, lifting his leg to impossible angles to scratch various body parts and crunching loudly on his favourite foods like sweet potato and corn”.
Wombats face a number of threats including loss of habitat, a deadly skin disease ‘mange’ and the impacts of human behaviour. One of the best take-aways to help the species is simply to be mindful when driving, that there could be wombats on the roads.
WILDLIFE Conservation Fund raises money for, Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary, where funds go towards caring for its residents: a collection of sick, injured, illegal pet and orphaned wombats undergoing rehabilitation for release back into the wild.
Complimentary Ringo Bingo cards will be available for guests on Saturday 22 October, International Wombat Day, from just before his feeding time at 10.30am, and throughout the day.
For more information on Ringo the bare-nosed wombat and friends, click here.
