that picture is amazing.
They took her (named "Sam") to Southern Ash Wildlife Center where she is recuperating with another koala bear named Bob that was rescued 2 days before.
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Koala Facts
Koalas rarely drink water, due to their diet of eucalyptus leaves. Eucalyptus leaves contain enough moisture to supply most of the koala's water needs.
Koalas almost became extinct. But due to conservation efforts, koalas have made a comeback. Loss of natural habitat due to logging, residential construction and real estate development, and farming still keeps koalas at risk.
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Sam the Koala wins hearts as emerges from Aussie fire
Today, 06:24 am
Volunteer fire-fighter Dave Tree came across the stricken koala, affectionately named Sam, cowering in a burnt out section of a forest at Mirboo North, some 150 km (90 miles) southeast of Melbourne.
As a colleague filmed him, he approached the koala and offered the terrified animal some water, gently talking until the koala put a paw on his hand and began drinking from the plastic water bottle.
"Things do survive the bushfire. There's a koala here. You alright buddy?" said Tree in the video which was posted on the video sharing website youtube.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSPx7S4jr4"This guy has survived. He's looking pretty bewildered."
The koala, who turned out to be female, was taken to the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Rawson while photos of Australia's beloved marsupial, taken on a mobile phone, spread quickly across the globe.
Carer Jenny Shaw told reporters that Sam had suffered burns on her paws and was in pain but on the road to recovery.
The story was reminiscent of another koala named Lucky who survived the bushfires that destroyed about 500 homes with the loss of four lives in the capital of Canberra in 2003.
Lucky became a symbol of hope as people rebuilt lives after the fires and was cared for in a nature reserve, dying recently.
As the fires subside, animals of all shapes and sizes who survived the fires have started to emerge from the charred bushland.
The Australian Wildlife Health Centre at the Healesville Sanctuary, located an hour's drive from Melbourne, has been taking in increasing numbers of injured animals.
But director John Gibbons said so many of the animals were so badly injured that they had to be put down.
"We had a joey today, an eastern grey of about 8 to 10 months old, but we could not save it," he said.
"We expect the workload to increase in coming days as the fires abate and roadblocks are lifted."
Wildlife workers said they had several weeks of hard work in front of them to save as many animals as possible.
Anne Fowler, spokeswoman for the Australian Veterinary Association, said wildlife likely to be affected include koalas, ringtail possums, kangaroos, reptiles and echidna.
"For those animals that can be treated, we treat the wounds under anaesthesia then protect them until they start to heal," she said. "This can take from two weeks to greater than four weeks depending on the severity of the burn."
(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
The controlled burning of bush and its affect on wildlife has been an issue in the last few years: see
ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Inquiry into the impact of public land management practices on bushfires in Victoria
Traralgon — 2 August 2007
Chair: Mr J. Pandazopoulos
Deputy Chair: Mr C. Ingram
Ms C. Wood, wildlife carer, Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter.
The CHAIR — I call the next witness, Colleen Wood from Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter.
Ms WOOD — I have some photos to hand around, and I warn you that some are a bit graphic.
The CHAIR — You can hand those over, and we will start looking at them. Because you came in earlier, I will just go through the formal instructions and remind you that all evidence taken at the hearing is protected by parliamentary privilege as provided by the Constitution Act 1975 and is further subject to the provisions of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003. Any comments you make outside the hearing may not be afforded such privilege. All evidence given today is being recorded, so be conscious of people trying to record you, but also be conscious that people in the gallery are trying to listen to our discussion. Thank you very much for joining us. After your presentation, you might be happy to take some questions.
Ms WOOD — Thank you. I will just explain who I am. I am a voluntary wildlife carer, and I am licensed by the Department of Sustainability and Environment to rehabilitate sick, injured and orphaned native wildlife. I have informally studied zoology and veterinary science studies and am currently studying wildlife management. I operate the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Rawson.
Flora and fauna have been affected as a result of the 2006 and 2007 wildfires, back burns to contain such wildfires, and fuel reductions. Just under 200 wildlife have been cared for at our shelter, including endangered and threatened species such as greater gliders, brush tailed phascogales, pygmy possums, powerful owls and barking owls. I will note here too that any birds that have come into our care have all had to be euthanised due to their injuries.
I am the leading carer in Victoria dealing with burns. It is a specialised field that needs to be addressed as such. We practise human burns protocol, and burns, as you can imagine, are exceedingly painful. It can take up to 10 days for the actual burns to come out, and we obviously have to deal with the smoke inhalation that these animals sustain too.
As to what comes in, we have a 75 per cent success rate — that is not incorporating what is euthanised out on field — with approximately 80 per cent survival after release. Some 20 per cent of the loss is due to either road trauma or dog attack after release.
It costs approximately $200 to $700 to rehabilitate the animals affected by fire, and that is just incorporating weeks of formula and medical supplies and nothing else. Interestingly enough, our job is classified as a hobby by the taxation department.
We had a brilliant response from the local DSE, which has supported our efforts and assisted with the retrieval of wildlife where possible. The wildlife officers have helped with the search and rescue and retrieval of animals, and particularly with the euthanasia side of things too.
The lack of foliage now out there obviously means there is a lack of feed source. There is no insulation, in particular all around Aberfeldy, because it is just bare. There is a lack of camouflage, and in turn, due to the lack of camouflage, we have hunters in there who are now shooting the wildlife. We are scoring extra business with having to now deal with raising orphaned joeys.
Vehicles such as motorbikes and the like are proving to be a major problem, particularly for those animals that are dispersing into green belts. They are being hit on the roads while they are trying to travel into better areas. Obviously what has survived is now competing for feed and for territory.
The weed species that are starting to establish themselves once again out there are blackberries and fireweeds, and the bracken is fairly much dominating. As natural as bracken is, it absorbs a lot of moisture and in turn robs the eucalypts of vital water sources, although it does provide nutrient to soil and mild camouflage to some of the animals. If it is left for years, it naturally dies back. If it is continually reburnt, the bracken will continue to regreen and in turn rob the soil of the water, and in turn the plants will suffer.
The dry habitat created through continual burning will result in dehydrated animals coming into care, and the ecology will be affected. I am concerned about local extinctions. Some of the areas we are dealing with in the alpine region are obviously renowned for tiger quoll and Leadbeater’s possums, just to name a few. Obviously their habitats have all been affected.
The epicormic growth on the trees — that is, the immature growth — acts as only a temporary food source. It is toxic. It is similar to new immature growth. The mature leaf is needed to maintain the wildlife such as koalas and greater gliders. I in turn have tried to feed some of our guys who have come in from the fires on the epicormic growth, and point blank they will not eat it. They know. The arboreal mammals are my major concern. I feel they will become extinct.
The areas that have been continually reburnt will in turn create a dry habitat, which will in turn make the region more prone to fire. Replanting of areas that do not have eucalypt trees mature enough to seed needs to be done. There is a definite need for that. Long term weed and pest control also needs to be incorporated. In some of these burnt areas obviously you have still foxes and there are a lot of wild dog problems now. If anything, we have seen them move into the township of Rawson and within that vicinity, because there is not a lot of food out there any more. The region affected should be rested. I would state there should be no motor vehicle or motorbike access, and proposed burns should be postponed for several years so flora and fauna have a chance to recover.
Forests and parks used to be closed to public access on high risk fire days, and enforcing this again will prevent accidental fires. The department desperately needs more forest rangers and wildlife officers as well as park rangers who are competent at doing their job to enable effective operations.
The fuel reduction burning in forest regions serves no purpose, and I am talking about lighting up in the middle of the alpine area. We have just proved that with the 100 000 hectares burnt in the 2003 alpine area that has once again reburnt. Habitat trees have obviously been dozered, and many species are dependent on the understorey for survival also, such as ringtail possums. Fair enough, they are common today, but down the track they won’t be. Floods are a consequential result of the fire, and habitat trees along the riverbanks have in turn fallen into the watercourse due to ongoing stress of, firstly, the fire and then the flood. It is obvious; you can see the soil and the silt and branches and numerous things, and I guess any dispersed seed also has entered the waterways, so basically from Aberfeldy debris is flooding out to the East Gippsland area.
I believe in fuel reduction burning to protect private property and townships. However, burning of the ridges should be done, and I have witnessed where the base of a mountain has been burnt in a back burn and it has just ripped through. One of the reasons I think they do that is it is a time thing. It is quick to do it rather than walking it down from the top of a ridge.
Wildlife carers experienced in rescue and with basic wild fire and awareness training need to liaise with DSE and help with the retrieval of wildlife or organise humane euthanasia of wildlife affected by fire. Quite often with the department wildlife is just not brought up. It is slowly coming to be, I guess, but it is imperative that we try to preserve what we have got. There is no evidence, as in documents or data, to support what is practised with the current fuel reduction regimen. Fifteen years is not long enough for a eucalypt to reach maturity and harvest seeds to survive, so I really do not know why that is practised.
Burning inwards from the four corners is quite often what they do when they do a fuel reduction burn. They burn the four sides and burn it in. It is a death trap for animals as well as for people. Mosaic burns conducted in late autumn would be more beneficial for fauna and flora. Worldwide we have wiped out 50 per cent of mammal species and in Australia alone we have wiped out 50 per cent of this. It would be hypocritical of me to save wildlife, particularly those that are burnt, if there is no habitat for them to be released back into. We must maintain a balance. That’s it.
The CHAIR — To ask you the first question, how many animals would you have treated, say, last year?
Ms WOOD — I have lost track of them, but it would easily be over 170. I have records at home. There were some that were not recorded because what we do is pretty intense. As soon as we get an animal in, it is basically stop and drop. It is an hour’s worth of treatment, the first day, on that animal with rehydrations, with soaking wounds, with dressing wounds and, in turn, moving on to the next animal. So we get little sleep. It is the decision that if anything is more than 50 per cent burnt and even 30 per cent burnt, ultimately we will opt to euthanase.
The CHAIR — How do you get funding? How do you pay for your operations?
Ms WOOD — Initially it was coming out of our own pocket, and it still is, although we have incorporated as Gippsland carers to try to enable us to go for grants to help to subsidise some of these costs, but aside from that, yes, it is a very expensive venture ,and that is probably why I am one of very few in Victoria that actually do it. It is quite costly. I think even during the Moondarra fires, I got up to accounting for, I think it was about at least $7000, with just rehabbing. I think we had through about 130 odd animals then.
The CHAIR — Your view would be, without putting words in your mouth, that the majority of animals that need care are not being given care because resources are not available or — —
Ms WOOD — I would say resources were not available. There is also not the education out there too. It is not pushed and in retrospect I guess there are wildlife carers doing the care for the wrong reasons, too. You need a good vet, too. You need good veterinary support to help you to be able to do things, and that is another reason why it is brilliant that we have incorporated as a group, because we have that ongoing support from other carers. You have advice; you have everything out there.
Ms DUNCAN — Thanks for that. Have you done any research or do you have any anecdotal stuff on the impacts of fuel reduction burns on flora and fauna, and also things like the impact of camping and four wheel driving and those sorts of activities on animal wildlife, I suppose, especially after some trauma to the country like fire? There are two questions there already, and I guess the third one would be: there is a lot of science to suggest that fuel reduction burns are good at preserving biodiversity and have been practised in this country for hundreds of years. Do you not accept that?
Ms WOOD — I will answer your first two questions. There is not a lot of scientific evidence or people have not researched, particularly in Victoria — in New South Wales they have — the impacts on flora and fauna in relation to the fuel reduction burns on — —
Ms DUNCAN — Other activities?
Ms WOOD — Yes, other activities, I guess. It is coming to be now, and that is another reason for networking in with other carers to get that information and to be able to accumulate it rather than it come from one person. Sorry, what was your other question?
Ms DUNCAN — The final one was about fuel reduction burns as a way of preserving biodiversity.
Ms WOOD — You know some things in ecology will thrive on that and will overpopulate, whereas you will kill out other things. I know you just said it was for hundreds of years. It has not been for hundreds of years. We have not been settled here long. When the Aborigines were in Australia, there was only 100 000 of them in comparison to 22 million of us, and they never touched the alpine area.
Mrs FYFFE — I do not have a question for you, but thank you for your presentation and the work you do. I think the one thing that has come across very clearly in every hearing we have held so far is the concern for the loss of wildlife.
Mrs PETROVICH — I have a lot of questions. First, I would like to commend you for the work you do. I think it would be pretty heartbreaking work. I am an animal person, so I have been quite touched by your photos today. The thing I find quite disturbing in response to the Chairman’s question is about the lack of funding. The first part of the question is: you do not have any establishment funding from government or anywhere when you are setting up your shelters?
Ms WOOD — Nothing.
Mrs PETROVICH — No ongoing funding at all?
Ms WOOD — Nothing.
Mrs PETROVICH — This is exclusively coming out of the pockets of individuals?
Ms WOOD — Exclusively, yes.
Mrs PETROVICH — So do parks have any involvement in the ongoing care of these animals?
Ms WOOD — I guess in habitat preservation they do, but other than that, it is not part of their job. We are lucky for them to retrieve what they retrieve. So many animals are left out there that are not checked. The pouches are not checked, and the majority of Australia’s mammals are marsupials which have pouches. There is once again the educational process. A lot of these people who work for the department have no idea even on basic identification of wildlife. It is quite incredible.
Mrs PETROVICH — If we were conducting more of the mosaic burns and burning of ridges, which I think is an interesting aspect of our land management, would we give the animals somewhere to go?
Ms WOOD — We certainly would, and once again, if it is done in late autumn and allowed to trickle through winter, there will be areas that will be left rather than it being a high intensity sort of burn, which I have seen with fuel reduction burns too. Some of the crews that are placed out there, as much as I guess they are under someone, my personal opinion is they do not have the experience. They are trained in a matter of ways. They are 18 year old guys, and they have no idea, really, and they do not have any backing when it comes to the ecology side effects and what the outcome is to be.
Mrs PETROVICH — You obviously have a lot of local knowledge and you have spent quite a bit of time, I would imagine, returning animals to the bush. In your experience have there been any studies or investigations into the impact on biodiversity and loss of habitat for these animals since the fires?
Ms WOOD — Not since the fires, no. There is a PhD student who is actually doing an owl survey at this particular point in time. She has asked me, what is in the alpine area? There is nothing. But on the perimeter, obviously, in the green belt, there is the odd owl, but nothing in comparison to what she had been recording. They certainly have been affected. If you just go out there, there is no sign. Some of your key indications are scratch marks up your trees and, because of the barren soil that is around now, there are no footprints. The other thing we look for is animal faecal droppings, too, to know what is in the area.
Mrs PETROVICH — You are not seeing a lot of activity?
Ms WOOD — Nothing, no.
The CHAIR — I would like to ask you another question. In your submission you have mentioned that the DSE Gippsland staff have assisted with the rescue of native wildlife and that their support has proved invaluable, but you also say that something could be expanded upon. Could you give us a bit more detail about what you think?
Ms WOOD — It can be expanded upon, I guess.
The CHAIR — What are they doing? How do they assist you at the moment and what extra things could be done?
Ms WOOD — Okay, then. I guess Moondarra was a classic example of this, of where it became a bit of a macho thing to retrieve something. I know a lot of the guys looked down on it, like, ‘Oh, why are you picking up the animal?’. We also kept up the feedback in relation to how that animal did. When an animal undergoes fire the first 24 hours are the most critical in deeming whether it will live or not. If these animals can be retrieved fairly fast it gives them a higher chance of success with the rehabilitation side of things, whereas if they are left out there, it is awful.
That kangaroo photo that was going around is a classic example. That kangaroo was still hopping around without fur. The saddest part about it was that even our wildlife officer had problems accessing the state forest area to literally be able to shoot it. Because of the fires he was not allowed in. We had to wait for that roo to come out onto private property before it could be euthanased. That is pretty horrendous. The part that got me about the public, too — a lot of these people who had lost homes — was that it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. They would bring in an animal and it was pretty much up to you and whether you said it would be a goer or not. I like to be honest with people. One woman brought in a ringtail possum and she thought it was dead. That was it; she just broke down. It is a recurrent thing. With that eastern grey roo, a woman had undergone the 2003 fires and then these fires, and with seeing it out there and the stress of having it on her property, that was it — that was the breaking straw for her.
It does impact, and it is something that is just not brought up. People say, ‘We saved the properties, we saved this’, but no one takes into consideration the amount of pain that is inflicted upon our wildlife as a result of it. It is not just about the wildlife being cute and cuddly — yes, they are iconic — but about the biodiversity. These things are here for a reason and if we keep wiping them out, we are wiping out ourselves — not just us, but the generations to come.
The CHAIR — Thanks very much, Colleen. We very much appreciate that. I remind you that transcripts of the hearing today will be sent to you in the next couple of weeks with instructions. Thank you for writing to us and joining us today.
Ms WOOD — Thank you.
Witness withdrew.
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death toll expected to hit 200 + in Victoria fires (Read 4,720 times)
