Christina Chrysostom - Wildlife carer and fancy dress costume maker.

I am the owner of Christina's Costumes Fancy Dress Costume Hire www.christinascostumes.com.au in Coogee, Sydney. Profit from Christina’s Costumes is used to fund the establishment and running of "Wombat Creek Native Animal Refuge".  

I have always had a great love for animals and have always been interested in animal welfare. In recent years my interest in wildlife increased and I became more aware of our unique and diverse Australian wildlife. In 1998 I joined WIRES (the NSW Wildlife Information and Rescue Service) as a volunteer rescuer and foster carer of wildlife in need. I purchased a property in Merriwa NSW, which is bordered by the Goulburn River National Park on three sides. With the help of my partner Larry and other interested and wonderful people who have volunteered their time and labour willingly we have established the wildlife refuge, named after the population of wombats that live in our valley. The land covers about 80 acres of which two thirds is an extension of the National Park and the other third of which had been cleared and is now is fenced to keep cattle out.  We are very grateful to our sponsors Greening Australia and Waratah Steel for help with funding materials for the fencing. With some management the native grasses have started to grow once again and now provide some extra food for the grazing wildlife, especially in dry periods when it is short supply elsewhere. Three aviaries have been built and are in use for rehabilitation.

We are very interested in the protection of the wombat population in the valley and hope to establish a facility that enables us to treat adults suffering from mange.  If left untreated the result is a painful death for the poor old wombat.  The disease  is spread by the feral fox population and the parasite is able to take hold when conditions are unfavourable for the wombats, particularly in times of drought.