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Jett Posted - Feb 06 2010 : 05:16:40 AM
Tommorow is the 12 months anniversary of the Black Saturday bushfires that saw a total of 120 deaths and more than 1200 homes destroyed. ...along with this the near exstinction of the Leadbeater Possum and the deaths of thousands of native animals. The past two weeks yet again I have been traveling across Victoria to another bushfire that burned out 1,700 hectares of National park in the Grampians. The amount of macropods badly burned is the worst I have seen in any of the fires I have attended. Yet its not so much about the rescuing but about euthainzing. The following video was completed for Wildlife Victoria and shows some amazing people. Not so amazing is me in a small section. I thought you guys might be interested in some footage of us doing some resuces.
I will post a couple of stories about some of the rescues soon but most don't have a happy ending and its still a bit roar to even write about it.
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| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
Jett Posted - Feb 10 2010 : 08:04:17 PM
Scott it is such a pity that organizations like ours are bogged down with politics which they always do. I found I was unhappy about stuff and didn't think it was fare to complain unless I was prepared to get involved which is what I did. It is are definatly different on the inside but the committee definatly has a group of dedicated people with many as Team leaders. rescuers and Shelters but all have the Widlifes best interests at heart. |
Catman Posted - Feb 10 2010 : 10:24:52 AM
Jett , that is pretty much how they do it here too. The places I volunteer for are all non-profit with a board of dictators directors  http://wildforever.org/
.I have been nominated a few times to be on the board but I had to decline,I hate politics and paper work! Even though we are state and federally licensed we don't get any support from our government. Our Division of Wildlife's motto is " if you care, leave it there".  |
Jett Posted - Feb 10 2010 : 03:36:43 AM
http://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/
Wildlife Victoria (Australia) is a not for profit and volunteer based organisation that has been at the forefront of wildlife rescue and rehabilitation in Victoria since its formation in 1989. It provides a 24 hour, 7 day a week wildlife rescue and information service. Wildlife Victoria also maintains a wildlife care and communication network across Victoria which assists wildlife rehabilitators.
By using a comprehensive networking system of wildlife shelters, Wildlife Victoria rescuers and transporters, emergency services, government agencies and commercial operators, we are able to respond swiftly and effectively to all manner of wildlife rescue situations, from orphaned ducklings to injured adult kangaroos.
Wildlife Victoria also has trained volunteer rescue teams that can be called upon at any time to assist in wildlife rescue emergencies such as bushfires and oil spills.
Wildlife Victoria is managed by a committee of management of 11 people elected each year from organisation members. All members are eligible for election to the committee. Of which I'm Vice President this year and Ko is also a committee member.
I do have to say that this type of rescuing is quite draining. We now have rules about how long we spend on the field and how long we need to take for rest days. Most mornings we were up and on the road by 5am checking out some private properties. Then you would get a short break in the heat of the day when the animals are also resting and then we rescue till night fall about 8:30pm. Unfortunatly you tend to unwind by talking till very late in the evening and most nights I wasn't in bed till after midnight.
With raising wildlife you get use to little sleep with feeds every four hours so I tend to cope quite well with about 5 hours sleep. Most wildlife carers I know keep odd hours. |
Belinda Posted - Feb 09 2010 : 07:11:55 PM
I will be there in 32 days. I wish I could help. |
kyro298 Posted - Feb 09 2010 : 02:28:15 PM
I'd have to go with "yes". |
Catman Posted - Feb 09 2010 : 12:40:56 PM
quote:
Originally posted by kristy123
cv writing
Spam?
 |
kristy123 Posted - Feb 09 2010 : 12:17:33 PM
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Catman Posted - Feb 09 2010 : 09:58:11 AM
Thats so great that you guys are so organized, dedicated and supported by your government. I guess with all the people with guns and 4x4's the last thing you want to look like is a bush.
Jett are you a volunteer for your government or for a private org?
That has to be sooooo draining,physically and mentally,to be chasing animals all day long. I hope you guys have an easier year this year!!!
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Jett Posted - Feb 09 2010 : 04:41:52 AM
quote:
Doesn't it make it harder to catch the animals when everyone is wearing bright red and yellow? Are the animals color blind?
I know its safety gear but I would think the animals could see you coming a mile away and it would just make the rescue take a lot longer.
Yea unfortunatly they can see us a mile off but the colour was goverened by The Local government department and is all about being visual and safe. We have had permission to use gilly suites http://www.ghilliesuitplus.com/ghillie-pants-and-jacket-sets.html
which the darters are alloud to put on to approach the animals. Their is lots of 4WD's going around that the Wallabies seem to be use too so we were finding we could get quite close in the cars, then the darters were very good shots.
Some of the rescues took along time like a couple of hours due to the terrain. One of the vets spoted a mother wallaby badly burned with her young joey playing neart her. The joey kept bouncing around then coming back and they would put their arms around each other. The vet had to stay watching them while we tried to get across the dry river bed with the 4WD as the guys with the darting guns couldn't go by foot and get the guns wet as they seize up.
It took us almost 2 hours to try to find away to get to the vet watching the wallabies as the rain set in. In the end I parked the 4WD as close to the river as I could and the darter and another vet made their way by foot across to find the wallabies. The other vet made her way back to us and was drenched and shivering from standing out in the wether for so long. She was very emotional as she explained to us how loverly the mother was hugging her joey to her as she watched on. It only took a few minutes for the guys to come back after darting both joey then mother.
Then I managed to get bogged making our way back but with some clever team work we managed to get unboogged and made our way back to triage with mother and joey.
Tash the vet who watched them for so long and myself took them into traige for treatment. The mother was the first to be looked at and it was obvious that she had to be euthainzed. Poor Tash burst into tears even though she knew that the burns were just to severe. The joeys feet were in great condition so he was transfered to the local shelter for long time care.
I rang yesterdsy to see how he was going only to hear the sad news that he was tranfered to another shelter but after his first morning feed they found he couldn't stand and had probably sustained some damage escaping from the fires and kicked out in his pouch and the damage became evident and he had to be euthanized. I don't have the heart to tell the young vet after such a committment on her part. Unfortunatly their are more sad stories than good endings.
I might be heading back next week if we can get some section 32's on using fire arms in the National Parks. This is an individual licence that each shooter has to apply for so its a long slow process. |
kazko Posted - Feb 06 2010 : 12:58:04 PM
thank you. |
Catman Posted - Feb 06 2010 : 11:29:43 AM
That is so sad!!! 
Doesn't it make it harder to catch the animals when everyone is wearing bright red and yellow? Are the animals color blind?
I know its safety gear but I would think the animals could see you coming a mile away and it would just make the rescue take a lot longer.
Great job guys  !!!! I wish i could help. |
kyro298 Posted - Feb 06 2010 : 11:17:58 AM
That's so sad but I'm glad they have you guys out there helping. I just don't know if I could do it. |
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