Page 30 - Tropic Magazine Issue 38

TROPIC • ENVIRONMENT

Rescue mission

WILDLIFE
A local wildlife carer shares
some trials and tribulations Every day, volunteers on rescue lines take And the Mission Impossible Jet Ski
Rescue? Sadly, it doesn’t have a happy
calls from people who’ve found native
when looking after one of our animals – some endangered like the ending. After hitching a ride with a
ecosystem’s most threatened spectacled flying fox – needing urgent fisherman and thoroughly searching
animals. care. the area, Lisa was about to return when
she spotted the spectacled flying fox
Words: Melanie Smith on the ground, dangerously close to
“It’s okay – you only need to worry about an enormous and hungry-looking lace
crocs at either end of the trip.” This level of dedication is monitor. Speeding back to town, she
These reassuring words were uttered by rushed to a bat-friendly and vaccinated
another wildlife carer, Lisa, while looking part and parcel for wildlife vet, who could only put the animal to
for someone to accompany her on a jet ski carers in Cairns sleep as its injuries were too extensive. A
to rescue a bat. Unsurprisingly, nobody sad end to the story, but a consolation to
put their hand up. know the bat died in a comfortable and
In the Far North, the idea of riding a jet pain-free environment.
ski in waters possibly inhabited by salties As one of our fellow wildlife warriors says,
seems like a death wish. But this was Wallaby joeys whose mums have been hit “every animal rescued and released is not
a mission born from both dedication by a car, fledglings fallen out of nests and just one animal, it’s all the subsequent
and desperation. A call had come for an bats entangled in fruit nets and barbed generations that animal procreates.”
injured spectacled flying fox on a property wire fences. Then there’s the occasional
that’s only accessible by water. feral piglet, python, or possum – or is it
Frantic messages pinged back and forth perhaps a big rat? We can never be sure
between carers. Could someone go with until we’re there.
the Coast Guard? The ferry? The sea turtle Another recent rescue even involved a
rehabilitation people? Maybe we could carer from Tolga Bat Hospital hitching a
leave a note at the boat ramp, asking if ride in a light plane to rescue a bat from
anyone could pick up a rescuer? Chillagoe, over 150 kilometres away!
Then somebody thought of a jet ski – The dog-like faces of spectacled flying
but would there be enough space for foxes, with their huge expressive eyes
two people and a basket carrying very ringed in gold fur like a pair of glasses
precious cargo? (hence their name), make these missions
hard to resist.
They’re more than little bundles of
If you spot a dead bat cuteness, invaluable to the health of our
stuck in power lines beloved rainforests by dispersing seeds
and acting as pollinators through contact
Call a local wildlife agency. between their fur and the flowers they
Often, a female is likely to have feed from.
an unharmed baby tucked up The most pressing factor, however, is that
under her wing and hanging on their numbers are now so low that they
for dear life. A wildlife rescuer classify as an endangered species, due to
will liaise with Ergon Energy to habitat loss, environmental
rescue the baby. stresses like heatwaves, disease, and MORE: batsoc.org.au
man-made obstacles. cafnec.org.au

30 • Tropic • Issue 38