Rehabilitate Wallabies & Other Native Wildlife

In April, Sydney was rocked by the worst storms we have had in a decade with cyclonic winds and rain which wreaked havoc on Waratah Park and our rehabilitation enclosures.  We had multiple trees come down, fence poles snapped, shelters blown over and flooding.  Within a week of the storms passing and damage being done, we held a working bee at the park to get everything back up and running again. 

With the help of our wonderful corporate volunteers, in one day, we were able to mend the damage done by the storms.  This included:

• The fencing around the macropod enclosure was reinforced with additional posts put up.  
• Due to the high winds, the shade cloth that provides a visual barrier for the macropods needed to be replaced around the boundary fences.  
• The macropod shelters that were blown over were relocated, reinforced and reinstated.  
• Multiple trees had to be chainsawed into managable pieces and were either removed or used in the exising enclosures to replicate natural habitates.
• We set up a turtle enclosure to house a resident turtle of the park that had a cracked shell from a fallen tree during the storms.  After treatment and shell repair, it is now doing very well in it's new enclosure prior to being released.

Thanks to all the wonderful help from the volunteers, the park is now sturdier than before the storms hit.

We are working to quickly build some additional facilities so we can rehabilitate other species and give them the best chance in the wild once released like we have been able to do for the macropods. 

It's your help and donations that enable us to be able to build and maintain these facilities and for that we are extremely grateful. 

The word is now out about the great rehabilitation facility we have built with the help of your kind donations. We are now taking in more wallabies and kangaroos (macropods) from vets and members of the public from further afield as they have heard how successful our rehabilitation area has been.

We have received numerous requests to build rehabilitation facilities for other species. As a result, we will be expanding the scope of this project to include rehabilitation facilities for other native wildlife. Sydney Wildlife prides itself on giving the animals that come into our care the best chance of survival once re-released back into their natural habitat. By having purpose built rehabilitation facilities for all species in our care, they would all be able to benefit from increased fitness and the ability to socialize with other members of their species which makes the transition back into the wild more successful. 

We hope that you will continue to support Sydney Wildlife in our effort to povide great facilities for all of our native wildlife.

Tell us what you think of our expansion?

Since our last report, we have had 7 rescued macropods come through the facility. While looking after this many animals in the facility can be expensive with ongoing food and vet bills, it is a joy to know that because of your help and donations we have been able to give them the best of care and release them back to the wild in peak fitness, when healthy and/or old enough.

Here is a story on how two of these macropods came to be in our care:

Snives (Rescued from St Ives) - Adult Swamp Wallaby - was found stuck behind a shed in the backyard of a member of the public with grazes and bruises on its legs from trying to break free. After being picked up from the vets and being given treatment for her injuries, she has now fully recovered and is due for release.

Valentine (Rescued on Valentines Day) - Juvenile Eastern Grey Kangaroo - was seen daily over the course of a week visiting several backyards without a mother around. Sydney Wildlife and vets were called in to capture Valentine. As Valentine was wild and frightened, she was darted to sedate her and enable the Sydney Wildlife volunteer to capture her and transport her to our facility with minimal amount of stress or danger to herself. She has now put on weight but as she is still quite young and should still be with her mother, she will be in the facility for a while before we can safely release her back in to the wild.