Working in wildlife rescue is incredibly rewarding, while I can't take a lot of credit for what we do I help out when I can. My mum does most of the work and tirelessly tries to save animals and rehabilitate them. Since starting the rescue thousands of animals have come through, most don't make it.
We try with every animal but not all of them can be saved. It seems like an incredible thing to be able to do, especially for someone like myself who loves animals. When you see the pictures of the adorable little babies or the stories of the ones who grew up to be released it seems like it would be amazing.
The reality is wildlife rescue is hard. It is sad, heartbreaking, thankless work. 90% of the animals you come across are either dead, dying, or cannot be saved and need to be euthanized. For someone who loves animals this is horrible, coming across severely injured animals that you know you cant help is bad. What's worse is coming across animals you could of helped but someone else didn't care enough... Many of these animals are left to die, painfully and unnecessarily.
This is common and in a lot of cases the baby could of been saved had we been contacted
This is a common occurrence. Many times I have pulled over to check a pouch for a baby or make sure the animal that has been hit is dead, it breaks my heart seeing things like this. All it would of taken is a few minutes of their precious time to pull over after they hit her and call us to come get the baby.
During an car accident it is not uncommon for the baby to be thrown from the pouch, other times they are safe from most of the trauma in the pouch. A lot of the time these babies are perfectly fine and could very easily be rehabilitated and released. Unfortunately very few people actually stop to check or care enough to see and they will die slowly, cold and alone. Some will be attacked by predators while they lay defenseless. Others will succumb to the elements and lack of food, others still will be hit by another car.
Honestly most of what we do is putting animals out of their pain and I hate it to be honest.
Aside from the euthanising of injured animals it is not uncommon for a rescue to become ill or develop an issue and pass.
This is so much worse because you generally spend months raising them and building a connection with them. Nothing hurts more than watching some tiny little baby growing into a big strong adult and then one day they die or you discover something is wrong.
Some of them had been with us over a year when they passed. Some hurt more than others. The wombats, kangaroos and possums really hurt me. They are funny creatures that are amazing to see grow up and nothing sucks more than when you try so hard and still fail.
Not all rescues are fluffy and cuddly
Government support for wildlife rescue is nil. All the vet bills, formulas and anything else needed is paid for by the rescuer and is usually done through donations or their own income. Between the emotional and financial stresses that can be put on people it's no wonder there are few rescuers around.
A tiny pouch baby being hand fed formula, it will be fed 6 times a day all through the night and handraised for over 12 months
Everyone I talk to seems to care about our wildlife around here, yet it is the same few people who always find the injured animals or call us to help. Some people ask me "how do you find so many animals" the answer is simple, I look. I care. Most people don't. They care if it's shoved in their face or right in front of them but not if it's going to interfere with their day.
Baby wombat, just starting to grow his fur
Please please pleaseeeeeeee if you hit an animal in your car, take the time to get out and check it. Move it off the road, if it has a pouch look for a baby (but don't remove) and if its still alive contact a wildlife rescue. It should take all of 5 minutes and can make a huge difference to the animal. I know not everyone cares like I do but I think we should all show compassion for all species, not just humans. We all share this planet and we all deserve to be here.