Limestone formations inside the Victoria Fossil Cave

Most of us have wandered through a limestone cave or three during our lives – but what is waiting for you at the bottom of a cave just out of Naracoorte in south eastern South Australia, is something really different – old fossils dating back several hundred thousand years.

The limestone caves at Naracoorte have some beautiful shawls, columns, stalactites and ‘mites, as well as straws and even helitites, which all compare well in quality to those seen elsewhere. But, when visitors descend the steps and winding pathways, caverns and chambers into the depths of Victoria Fossil Cave and the lights are turned on, most are truly surprised to find standing before them the eerie sight of two fossilised skeletal frames of Australia’s long extinct mega fauna, the marsupial lion (thylacoleo carnifex) and a giant browsing kangaroo (sthenurine).

With knowledge gained from study of these prehistoric animals, the well-informed National Parks guides, keen to share their knowledge, give a fascinating account of the life and times  of these strange creatures, their eating and hunting habits, how they went about their daily lives, and importantly, how they came to be where they are.

In the background of this display, deep within the cave, is an archaeological site where ongoing work by palaeontologists is being painstakingly carried out. The earthen silted cave fl oor contains the fossilised skeletal remains of around 135 different species of large and small creatures which, in an intriguing tale of mystery and mishap, it is revealed tragically (for them) how they fell through a small concealed cave opening at ground level and, because of the depth of their fall, were unable to climb out.

While some modern day animals (kangaroos, marsupials, lizards and snakes) are included in the excavated remains found here, the many who came to grief (starved to death or eaten by others) hundreds of thousands of years ago, are preserved in a ‘time capsule’ environment.

A giant ‘wombat like’ creature (known as a diprotodon) and huge echidnas are known to have roamed this region, and even  the remains of Tasmanian tigers and devils and many other creatures unearthed here make this a fascinating and quite eerie place. Clearly when William Reddan discovered these caves near Naracoorte in 1897 (and was a Naracoorte Caves guide here for 32 years), he could not have imagined that he had stumbled across what is now recognised as one of the biggest and richest fossil sites in the world. In fact, tens of thousands of specimens have been recovered, most of which were superbly preserved.

Our guide, Barb, telling us about the fossils found in Victoria Fossil Cave

In recognition of the historic importance of this site, the Naracoorte Caves in 1994 gained its highest possible heritage honours – World Heritage listing for its important fossil collection and was included in the National Heritage List on May 21, 2007.

In addition to Naracoorte’s intriguing Fossil Cave, the beautiful Alexandra Cave, which contains a series of beautiful chambers of limestone formations and a lovely refl ection pool, is also a must visit experience.

The Bat Observation Centre is also an intriguing experience where your guide, with the use of infra-red lighting, will stun you with the sight of a huge bat colony in their maternity chambers. If you are there at dusk during summer holiday periods for a night tour of Blanchie Cave, the exodus of thousands of southern bent-wing bats leaving the cave is a really spectacular sight. It is currently estimated there are 30 thousand bats living in these extensive cave systems. In addition to these caves there is a self-guided cave (Wet Cave, with sensor lighting) and a number of wild cave adventure tours available.

A giant kangaroo - inside the Wonambi Fossil Centre

In all, within Naracoorte Caves National Park there are a total of 26 caves of which there are eight open to the public.

Also located here is the multi-million dollar Wonambi Fossil Centre, which brings a number of Australia’s extinct mega fauna to life in a dramatic re-created scene of life-like computer animated robotic animals, some dating back 500,000 years - seen here ‘living’ in a simulated habitat of forests and swamp lands all those years ago.

Entry to the Wonambi Fossil Centre

Naracoorte Caves – more than just beautiful limestone formations, but an opportunity to enter the lost world of Australia’s prehistoric animal life – an experience you will long remember.

A diprotodon stands at the entrance to Naracoorte Caves

Category: Destinations
Written: Sun 01 May 2016
Printed: May, 2016
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