WILDLIFE CARE NETWORK
More than 90 species of native Australian animals are listed as endangered. Some of them may already be extinct. Since 1788 hundreds of species have perished. A band of volunteers is dedicated to reducing the impact of man.
By Michelle Pountney.
(From 'The Picture Gallery' Herald and Weekly Times, 22 February, 2000)
Almost every hour of every day, Clare Davis responds to the clamour of hungry babies. She cheerfully admits she has her hands full, and by any measure she does. Her brood is measured by the dozen.
Mrs Davis is one of Victoria's 300 wildlife carers. Like them all, she has an emotional stake in the survival of Australian wildlife; like them all she is a volunteer.
Foremost in their minds is the future of our wildlife. The sorry history is that, of about 3800 species of native animals that existed before white settlement in 1788, seven per cent have been lost forever.
Environment Australia lists 92 as in danger of extinction.Volunteer carers are part of the network that helps them survive. At Clare Davis's Leongatha shelter she is nursing 11 wombats, three kangaroos, a pair of koalas, a small flock of magpies and assorted other native wildlife, including a tiny pigmy possum.
'I work 19 hours a day,' she says. 'You do need to treat them like a human baby. It is our responsibility being Australian, to care for Australian animals.'
But it is not just country Victoria that supports shelters, or lonely country roads that claim victims.
Suburban East Reservoir has one of the state's busiest shelters. The nearby Plenty Gorge and its mobs of kangaroos provide much of the work and many patients for carer Rieget van de Vusse.
As bushland areas continue to be eaten up by the rapid advance of suburbia, wildlife is displaced.Not only that, but with the arrival of humans come the domestic predators, cats and dogs. Their effect on wildlife is one of the biggest problems.
Another problem is attitude. Some people say that animals such as kangaroos, considered pests in many areas, should not be saved.
But Ms van de Vusse does not share this view. At the moment, her foster family consists of a red kangaroo (found on a Coburg doorstep), an eastern grey kangaroo (found on a road), rainbow lorikeets, a swan with a fish hook injury and two baby fairy wrens whose nest was destroyed by a lawn mower. 'The commitment of running a shelter is very stressful, exhausting, and it takes over your entire life,' she says.
Wildlife Care Network runs a referral service to the nearest shelter. If you find injured, ailing or distressed wildlife, you can call the Wildlife Care Network's 24-hour rescue hotline on 0500 540 000.
