In the Spotlight: Wildlife Rescue South Coast
Let me introduce you to an incredible organisation that recently came to my awareness because of the horrific devastation wrought by the fires on the south coast – Wildlife Rescue South Coast.
Who are they? What do they do?
Wildlife Rescue South Coast is a 100% volunteer-run non-for-profit organisation dedicated to the rescue of native Australian fauna. Their primary aim is to rescue and rehabilitate injured and orphaned native wildlife with the intention of eventually releasing them back to the wild. They are the largest wildlife rescue group in the NSW South Coast region and are licensed by National Parks and Wildlife Services to undertake wildlife rescue and rehabilitation from Wollongong out to the Southern Highlands and down to the Victorian border.
How have the recent fires impacted them?
As we know, the initial number of 500 million animals killed in the fires has skyrocketed – as of yesterday, the estimation was closer to 1 billion. Whilst for these animals, it is too late, there is a desperate need to help those animals that have survived, for it is not only burns that hurt the animals, but the destruction of their food and habitats too.
There is a large influx of animals coming in who have been badly hurt by the fires, and are in no condition to look after themselves. One project Wildlife Rescue South Coast is working on is to immediately set up feeding stations. This is where local community members can pick up wildlife food and water supplies and place them in their yards to help those animals who escaped the fires but now have no food or water to survive on over the next 3-4 months until growth begins to reappear.
Funding organisations like this is now more important than ever. At the moment, donations are going towards purchasing food, medications and covering vet bills, and well as towards creating boxes and shelters for animals injured in the fires. To give you some idea of how far your funding will go, a donation of just $25 will feed a precious little joey for a month.
One of the animals in their care is…
There are so many stories of animals trapped in the fires. Take Bennie the wallaby, for example, aptly named as she was found by campers at Bendalong last week. The fires raged through with no escape so cars, trucks and people fled into the water, followed by campers and this clever little swamp wallaby. Campers cared for her for 2 nights before they could get out. Too small to look after herself, Bennie is now safely in the hands of her carer. But she is one of the lucky ones.
Why am I spotlighting a smaller animal rescue instead of larger organisations like RFS, Red Cross etc?
In these times, it’s especially important that we be wary of where our funding is going, and to try and spread it out between all the organisations doing hard work on the ground. It’s vital to remember the route of your funds. For example, donations to NSW RFS are first filtered through the government. Whilst of course this is an excellent organisation to support, and we all know that a hell of a lot more funding needs to go to our firefighters and the services they provide, it’s important to also support organisations where proceeds go directly to those affected. In this case, proceeds donated to Wildlife Rescue South Coast go directly towards supporting wildlife in affected areas – it is for this reason that I have chosen to do a spotlight on them today.
Please help support the wonderful work this organisation is doing. Click here to donate, or get in contact with them via the links below.
Website: https://www.wildlife-rescue.org.au/
Phone: 0418 427 214
Socials: @wildliferescuesc