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A farm and a pony club
The Johnson family bought a former farm and pony club of 25 acres in Pearcedale, on the Mornington Peninsula. Development began in December 1998 with a visitor centre, a wetland of two acres with a lake, animal enclosures and more than 10,000 native trees and plants.
Opening at night, then by day
Moonlit Sanctuary opened in September 2001 with evening tours to see nocturnal animals by lantern light. It began opening during the day in 2007, and lantern-lit Night Tours still run alongside daytime visits.
Breeding rare animals
In 2001 the sanctuary became the first in Victoria to breed eastern quolls since 1963. It has also bred southern bettongs, squirrel gliders and fluffy gliders, and in 2014 the first orange-bellied parrot bred in its care was released into the wild. A new breeding facility for the parrots was completed in 2016.
