The Rotary Club of Southeast Queensland Wildlife Rescue Inc. in District 9640 has been chartered for less than a year and what a roller coaster ride it has been on. Firstly, that there have been a lot of disappointments.
In regard to rescuing, caring and hopefully releasing animals back into the wild, there are more bad outcomes than good. A lot of the work involves rescuing animals from vehicle strikes.
But let’s concentrate on the positives!
The club has released a diverse range of animals back into the wild including wallabies, gliders, possums, lorikeets and many other birds.
Members have also refurbished a release area for macropods (a family of marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands, including kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas and several other groups).
The club currently has many native animals in care, in various forms of rehabilitation, and has forged relationships with other wildlife organisations and carers. They are determined to work for wildlife by being inclusive not exclusive of other organisations.
PICTURED LEFT: Peanut the possum has been raised by carer Alisha since he came into her care September 2024. PICTURED RIGHT: Barry the bandicoot has moved on to stage two of his rehabilitation.
Members are also training new carers/rescuers and looking for new members to help with transport and phone operation to assist with help, advice and call outs to injured wildlife.
Other club initiatives include working with property developer Mirvac to mitigate the obvious problems with clearing land for home building sites and promoting environmental awareness through education in all forms of community groups.
In the near future, with the help of Scenic Ford, the club plans to have an ambulance fitted inside and out and obtain a release trailer for transport of the rehabilitated animals.
With the help of Rotary International, long-term plans include a wildlife hospital and education centre.
The club has four wildlife carers rehabilitating everything from owls to macropods, possums and bats. They currently have 24 possums, six gliders, 29 macropods and 21 birds in care, but this number changes daily.
The operation has an enormous funding cost of up to $975 per month, not including the costs of fresh produce purchased every second day.
The club raises this money not by traditional methods like raffles but by working with corporate sponsors to raise funds that will give both the club and the corporate sponsor publicity through education.
“We know we have an uphill battle with rehabilitating wildlife, which is under extreme pressure from population growth, and the carers get more sad outcomes than good ones, but we are determined to push on,” says New Club Advisor David Kenny, who founded the club.
“We are educating new carers, the public and businesses about simple things like slowing down when driving at dawn and dusk, or just reporting an incident, and setting up new equipment, rehabilitation facilities and release centres.”
For more information on the Rotary Club of SEQ Wildlife Rescue, contact New Club Advisor David Kenny via 0438 705 406 or [email protected]
MAIN PICTURE: Joey Eden was found caught in a fence. Rescuers untangled her and a vet examined her hips and legs before reuniting her with her mum.