One of Liverpool City Council’s newest recruits happily takes his salary in dry gum leaves.
Far from his native tropical Queensland, Ozzie – a giant Australian Burrowing Cockroach – has settled into the New South Wales Council’s Rose Street Depot and a new career as an educator about household composting.
Mayor, Wendy Waller, said Ozzie was recruited by Council’s waste management educators to promote household composting and reduce waste sent to landfill.
“Ozzie is a member of the world’s biggest and cleanest cockroach family, unrelated to the pests that scuttle into Australian homes.
“Ozzie has now made two public appearances, and has been a hit with audiences.
“At first people aren’t quite sure when they learn he is a cockroach. But when they learn how different he is, they happily have him nestle in their hands.”
Weighing up to 30 grams and growing as large as the palm of a hand, Ozzie’s native cockroach family is also known as the Rhinoceros Cockroach.
The species is important to the Australia bush ecosystem as they collect dry eucalyptus leaves and take them into burrows as much as a metre underground, eat them and turn them into compost that enriches the soil.
Council supports residents’ home composting by offering a $50 rebate for any compost bin or worm farm purchased, workshops, and troubleshooting and information resources.
