Franz Weber's Brumby Sanctuary
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Some local history and information
3 Some remains of the old overland telegraph line passes through the sanctuary. This line, which was constructed in 1870 between Darwin and Adelaide, was last used in the 1950's.
The remains of a section of the old 4 Stuart Highway between Darwin and Alice Springs passes through the sanctuary.
5 The township of Pine Creek is only a couple of hours south of Darwin. 5
Pine Creek was established in the early 1870's under the original name of 'Playford'.
It is a mining town, and unfortunately the mine will be closing down in late
2003, which will mean a drastic decline in the town's population.

The old Bonrook homestead was built in the 1960's. 4
The white fence seen here is not original, and was constructed with the resort.
The very old original homestead which was built in the 1890's by pastoralist Alfed Giles, was dismantled and relocated from Bonrook Station to Pine Creek in the 1930's to be used as a geneal store. The building still stands as a reminder of the past.

The old open-cut mine on the outskirts of Pine Creek has 4 been allowed to naturally fill with water, and will eventually be used as the township's water supply.

3 Back in the days before many sections of the top end of the Northern Territory were fenced, brumbies were seen at times 'migrating' between Kakadu and Daly River.
Brumbies usually have a fairly permanent home range, while some have two home ranges which they move between on a seasonal basis, while a very small number are nomadic.
When the sanctuary was first started, there were some existing brumbies in the area.
About 180 brumbies from much further south in the Alice Springs area were then bought by the Franz Weber Foundation and released into the sanctuary.

Kakadu is off to the right of this map.

5 Map of the very top end of the Northern Territory