Vote to help name Wallaby Heroes

THE Friends of the Ocean Grove Nature Reserve are running a competition to name the “Wallaby Heroes” designed by local kindergarten and secondary students.

Local residents are being asked to name the Wallaby Heroes by posting their ideas on the “Wallaby Hero” Facebook page.

The friends group obtained a Connected Community Grant with the aim of creating a mascot to deliver the message “Please don’t bring dogs into the reserve and take your rubbish home”.

President Fiona Topolcsanyi said the reserve was the last large patch of native vegetation left on the Bellarine and was very popular with local residents, with visitor numbers almost doubling in the last five years.

The project involved kindergarten children and rangers developing a design brief of what they thought the wallaby hero should be like.

Bellarine Secondary College students then submitted six designs.

Helen Topolcsanyi and Jade McKenzie were chosen from 205 votes by local families as the winning design entries.

Local kindergarten child Maya said, “My wallaby says ‘Don’t bring dogs here! It is dangerous for us’”, while Fletcher said, “The wallaby loves to jump around. It would be kind, friendly and gentle to people”, and Mia said, “My wallaby is hopping and jumping and is a friendly wallaby”.

To vote to help name the “Wallaby Heroes”, community members need to go to the “Wallaby Hero” page on Facebook and enter their suggestions.

Anyone can enter the competition as often as they would like up to the closing date of November 4.