The latest on Wallaby Walkthrough…

Over the last few weeks, the Marwell team has been working incredibly hard to revamp our wallaby walkthrough.

After removing boulders, clearing the original fencing and relocating the wallaby houses, it was time to move onto the next phase: the pond and water feature. 

To prevent the water in the pond being absorbed by the earth and to keep the water nice and mud-free, the Marwell landscapes team had to put in place a large waterproof lining on its surface. The lining is made of two synthetic layers that sandwich together a layer of clay. Each roll of liner weighed a gargantuan 1.3 tonnes!

Thanks to a spot of dry weather, the lining was put in place with the help of a heavy-duty telehandler and good old-fashioned Marwell team spirit. With all the rain we’ve had recently, the team reported the soil as very sticky to work on, with a few wellies getting stuck in the mud, too! 

Next up, was the water feature, which meant the introduction of rocks, boulders and gravel to create the rocky creek at the top, the pool in the middle, the gentle stream, and the pond at the bottom. The team used their artistic talents to create a wonderfully naturalistic looking feature.

Our landscapes team also worked alongside our keepers to determine which plants were the most suitable to put in their new enclosure. The wallabies carried out a ‘taste test’ where they were offered different species of grasses. Keep an eye on our social channels for a video on how this went! 

The project is currently on hold, but we’re all very excited to get the walkthrough finished and ready for both guests and wallabies once it’s safe to do so.