LUMEN Summer 2020 - Flipbook - Page 39
WINE
Gawler and surrounds. So it was an interesting
time,” he said.
Following his degree, Peter’s first job was with
the Australian Government as an Agricultural
Advisor based in Papua New Guinea. It wasn’t
long before his fascination with insects steered
him in a different direction.
“Even though I went to New Guinea with the
Australian government as an agricultural advisor,
I got really involved with insects because New
Guinea is mecca for insects. The biggest insects,
the biggest butterflies, the longest stick insect,
the biggest beetles – so I soon got into collecting
them,” he said.
Peter would visit village communities, advising
on crops like coffee, cocoa and rice, and he
would use these trips to collect insects.
After a period in crocodile farming, and yes,
he was bitten once after a failed attempt to get
a band around its mouth, it was butterflies that
captured his attention. His aim was to create
butterfly farms that could provide locals with an
alternative source of income.
“It was one alternative to village people having to
chop down their forests. The idea, as far-fetched
as it might seem, was to set up a handful of
businesses that could compete with the revenue
that logging gave to people in the village.
The result was an Insect Farming and Trading
Agency that operated for 25 years with
approximately 2,000 villagers working for them
across the country in the different provinces.
“We would keep up to 300,000 insects in stock
which we marketed to dealers overseas. New
Guinea insects were highly collectible and top of
the list were the Birdwing butterflies. These are
absolutely magnificent. The biggest I measured in
the wild was 33 centimetres across,” he said.
Peter also started working with wildlife and
protected species, which led to a partnership with
“Monarto is growing pretty quickly. It's the
largest area zoo in Australasia. In fact, every
other zoo in Australia and New Zealand fits
into Monarto with room to spare.”
the University of Technology in Lae to set up a
zoo called the Rainforest Habitat.
After 30 years in Papua New Guinea, Peter finally
returned to Adelaide in 2003 to take up a position
as the first curator at Monarto, before becoming
the Director, a position created a few years ago
when the zoo began to expand rapidly.
“Monarto is growing pretty quickly. It's the
largest area zoo in Australasia. In fact, every
other zoo in Australia and New Zealand fits into
Monarto with room to spare.”
More recently the zoo experienced the challenges
of COVID-19 and forced closures.
“Like everybody, we struggled. We tried to keep
as many people as we could but we probably
had to lay off half our front-of-house people for
a while. Job keeper helped a lot, but we still had
animals to look after. The State Government
has been really supportive, so has the Federal
Government. Since we've reopened again, we've
also had tremendous support from the public.
It has all made a difference.”
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