Located in Ongerup, Western Australia, Yongergnow Malleefowl Centre is a community owned and operated centre for environmental awareness and education, with special focus on conservation of the mallee bush and the endangered Malleefowl. Yongergnow is situated in the Great Southern region, approximately halfway between Perth and Esperance.
The name Yongergnow is made up from the Noongar words ‘yonger’ (male kangaroo) and ‘gnow’ (Malleefowl). ‘Yonger’ represents the location in Ongerup (place of the male kangaroo), and ‘gnow’ -the centre’s objective to protect the Malleefowl. The Noongar words were chosen to represent Yongergnow’s ties with the local Aboriginal community.
Yongergnow offers guided tours through the centre and around the two aviary’s housing malleefowl.
The Centre includes the ‘Fowl Play’ exhibit that showcases the iconic malleefowl and its habitat and the story of how this amazing bird has galvanised local community conservation and economic development activities.
Immerse yourself in the mallee bushland surrounding the centre and take a short stroll to our two large mallee bush aviaries housing Malleefowl.
Our Cafe
Yongergnow’s Fowl Play Café offers light homemade breakfast & lunches, cakes & barista coffee. Take advantage of the indoor eating area or the deck and relax with a coffee and a bite to eat.
The café can also cater for larger groups. For more information and menu options please contact us at visitor@yongergnow.com.au.
Yongergnow’s Role In Conservation
Education and Raising Awareness
Yongergnow’s contribution to Malleefowl conservation is predominantly by education and awareness-raising for people visiting the centre, incl. bus groups, community groups, and very importantly, schools.
To our knowledge, Yongergnow is the only facility in WA to keep Malleefowl in a captive environment.
In 2010, captive raising (not breeding) of Malleefowl was added to this scope. In the 2015/16 breeding season, Yongergnow’s Malleefowl bred for the first time.
Bird and fauna surveys
In 2014, the first fauna survey was conducted in the Yongergnow Sanctuary. This was supervised by Angela Sanders. In 2015, our biologist Vicky Bilney received her first fauna trapping licence, taking the project over from Angela.
In 2015, Yongergnow started to widen its scope again by conducting bird surveys in the North Ongerup Malleefowl Corridor and offering contract bird survey work.
History of Yongergnow
Yongergnow Australian Malleefowl Centre was the brain child of the Ongerup Community Development and the Malleefowl Preservation Group (MPG Inc.). The MPG was founded in 1992 and operated until 2015. It came as a result of the rarity of Malleefowl in the Gnowangerup Shire, of which the Malleefowl is the fauna emblem.
The MPG’s primary focus was doing surveys and on ground conservation work, but felt that education and awareness raising for Malleefowl and the mallee was an aspect of Malleefowl conservation which would best be done from a conservation and eco-tourism centre in Ongerup: Yongergnow Australian Malleefowl Centre, or Yongergnow in short.
Building Yongergnow would not have been possible without considerable financial and in kind support from federal, state and local government, Lotterywest and the Ongerup community. The Department of Regional Development, the Great Southern Development Commission, the Gnowangerup Shire, Lotterywest and various other funding bodies contributed the majority of the required funding (approximately $1.3 million).
Yongergnow was developed and built over a seven year period from 2000, opening its gates to the public on 15th February 2007. In 2008, the Ongerup District Telecentre (rebranded into Yongergnow-Ongerup Community Resource Centre in 2010) co-located with Yongergnow.