A tiny, vulnerable baby swamp wallaby named “Gil” is getting the care he needs to grow up and be released back into the wild thanks to the hard work of WIRES volunteers and donations from the community.
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WIRES stands for Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service and its volunteers come to rescue whenever native animals are injured on our roads or other situations.
Gil the swamp wallaby found himself in the loving arms of WIRES wildlife carer Jan Sheehan at her Dalmeny home after his mother was killed on a road in the district.
He arrived at four weeks and only 700 grams but now four six months later he has grown to 1300 grams and is that the stage where he normally would be poking his head out of the pouch for his first look at the big world.
Mrs Sheehan and baby Gil got a visit from Narooma Sporting and Services Club general manager Tony Casu, who was making another donation to the wildlife caring service.
Mr Casu was quite at home bottle feeding the little wallaby as he grew up on a farm at Corowa caring for young joeys. He said the donation was another example of the club getting involved in important community organisations.
This latest $350 donation will go toward a mobile aviary to rescue birds, while last year’s donation from the club went toward a brooder box used for birds in care.
Mrs Sheehan has been WIRES Mid-South Coast branch for five years but has been a a wildlife carer for a total of 16 years.
“It’s a fantastic experience but it’s difficult at times and very time consuming, taking over your life sometimes,” she said, noting that baby Gil needs a feed five times a day between 6am and 11.30pm. “They’re just like little human babies.”
Her home is often a menagerie and she just relinquished care of an Eastern grey joey and three flying foxes, who had now gone on to other carers.
“You could get a call anytime and you never know what’s going to come in,” she said.
Gil will soon move on to another carer with a larger property and by the time he was weaned, all human contact would end, smoothing the way for him to be released back into State Forest or National Park when he turned 12 months old.
WIRES carers use special milk formulas that replicate individual species’ milk. Members of the public can help with the raising of orphaned native animals by donating to the WIRES food fund at http://bit.ly/WIRESFoodFund All donations over $2 are tax deductible.
For more information about getting involved or helping the service, visit www.WIRES.org.au or if you know of animal that needs rescuing contact WIRES Mid-South Coast branch on 1300 094 737.