In a real-life fairytale, an American millionaire has bequeathed $8 million to the Mannum-based Wombat Awareness Organisation in Australia. "We are still in shock, we're still waiting for someone to say the money's not coming," director Brigitte Stevens said yesterday.
"It's unbelievable really, we're just blown away." The millionaire, whose family has requested anonymity, unexpectedly visited the team of volunteers about two years ago to see the southern hairy-nosed wombats in the wild.
"I took him out into the wild population and showed him wombats with mange, wombats that were starving to death and wombats with burrows from motorbike tyres," she said. The millionaire, who worked in the horse-racing industry, was captivated by the volunteers' tireless efforts to save what may be becoming an endangered icon.
Ms Stevens - who works to help pay bills, including last year's $70,000 vet fees - wants to buy two properties in the Murraylands and run a 24-hour free vet advice phone clinic.
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