Meet Our Centre mascot; Bunmarra or “Murray”, as we affectionately call him!

Bunmarra is Dharug language for ‘Blue Tongue’ Lizard. Narrang is Woi wurrung language for ‘Blue tongue’ Lizard. “Woi wurrung” is the traditional language of the Wurundjeri people, the Traditional Owners of the Melbourne area, where Ringwood is located.

After feedback from our families in 2023, about introducing a pet to our centre. We started to reflect on how this could look at KOM and what benefits, a centre pet may bring to the children accessing our service? We wanted a centre pet that children could interact with physically and develop a deeper understanding of caring for others. We also wanted to find a pet we could confidently look after to a high standard and provide the right environment for. After some research we found bunmarra’s or ‘blue tongue’ lizards are quite an ideal pet for child care centres! They enjoy moments of interactions, including cuddles- once used to being handled, they are quiet and slower moving reptiles, not to mention, they are interesting and not your usual pet! They are common to our local area, with many families informing us of the local lizards visiting their backyards!

Murray was adopted to KOM in February 2024 and is certainly the star of the centre!
We all adore him so much!