Skippy the Bush Kangaroo: TV program's park will be returned to its true owners

Waratah Park, the location for the TV program Skippy, will be returned to the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council and its First Nations owners.

The Australian television program, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, was only in production in Sydney for two years, from 1966 to 1968, but it was a global success. In the fictional children’s program, Matt Hammond was the head ranger of Waratah National Park, and lived there with his sons, Mark and Sonny, bringing them up as a single father. The young Sonny befriended a kangaroo and called it Skippy. Skippy was actually played by several kangaroos throughout the series. As a pair, the two had many adventures. The program was famous for lines such as “What’s that Skip?” And the kangaroo would answer with clicking noises.

Waratah Park Earth Sanctuary, near Sydney, became a wildlife tourist park after the production of Skippy, from the 1970s. In 2003 the lessee was charged with animal cruelty, and the park eventually closed in 2007 due to the lack of visitors.

The 13 hectare park will now become a heritage and cultural centre (Daily Telegraph, August 14, 2014). Organizations such as Sydney Wildlife, the Friends of Skippy, and the Duffy’s Forest Residents Association will continue to be able to access the land. The handover to the Land Council is expected to occur soon.

http://www.waratahpark.com.au/

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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