Wildlife Care

What we do

  • Rescue and arrange foster care of native wildlife
  • Actively recruit new volunteer wildlife carers
  • Arrange release sites for rehabilitated wildlife
  • Take care of native wildlife in drought conditions
  • Encourage the public to create wildlife habitat in their gardens
  • Encourage responsible supplementary feeding & watering of wildlife

Irene Darlington  leads these wildlife care activities for Pullen Pullen Catchments Group. Irene is a very active foster carer and rescuer for sick, injured or orphaned native wildlife. She also plays an active role as coordinator for many veterinary surgeries and animal organisations to facilitate the rescue and foster care of wildlife.

The network of volunteer carers and rescuers that Irene works with is a group of people who are prepared to be telephoned after hours to assist with the rescue and care of native wildlife, such as a possum injured from a hit and run incident at eleven o’clock at night. 

The role this network plays is crucial because it is very important to have native wildlife rescued and placed into care as soon as possible. Every species has different needs and very often it is found that well meaning individuals with good intentions  jeopardize the animal’s chance of full recovery the longer they take to pass it onto an experienced foster carer in that species. For example, a bird with a broken wing may have a full chance of recovery if the wing is set or pinned properly as soon a possible after the initial injury. If the bird is not passed on to an experienced carer until weeks after the injury, the break will have already set in the wrong position. The same can be said for orphaned animals or sick ones where issues arise from human imprinting, incorrect diets, territoriality, infections and many other problems.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer wildlife carer or rescuer and helping to avoid such problems please contact Irene! Please email contactus@pullenpullencatchments.org.au or phone Irene on 0409 026 883. If you are unable to assist with the rescue and foster care of wildlife, but you reside on acreage and you would like to become a release site for some species, please telephone for further information.

Care of Native Wildlife in Drought Conditions

Drought has a devastating effect on our native fauna and on our gardens, which provide habitat, feeding grounds, shelter and homes for all our residential wildlife.

During drought conditions, it is very important to make sure that you provide multiple water bowls for the visiting wildlife. Keep watering bowls scrubbed, cleaned and water replaced daily. Place the water containers in your garden where cats and dogs will not be able to access the visiting wildlife easily.

Creating habitat for wildlife in our gardens by planting native plant species is an important long term solution to the care and preservation of native animals. Native plant species provide shelter, habitat and a nourishing food source for visiting wildlife. For example, grevilleas and bottle brush trees are a food source for pollen, nectar, new shoots, bark and insects.

Responsible assisted feeding is another way to assist in the care & preservation of wildlife during times of drought.

Normally people are discouraged from providing supplementary food to native wildlife. Artificial food sources can lack proper nourishment value which can cause mal-nourishment and disease in wildlife. For instance, mince for meat eating birds or bread and honey for lorikeets does more damage that good. Supplementing native food sources can result in an increase in wildlife populations, which the natural environment in your area can not support once you stop the feeding for whatever reason.

However, during a severe drought a level of supplementary feeding is warranted. The important point is to be well educated in providing healthy and nourishing
supplementary food for particular species.For example, Wombaroo Insectivore Mix is added to mince to make a nutritionally balanced feed for meat eating birds and proper lorikeet and honey eater mix, wet or dry, should be provided for honey eaters, instead of bread and honey. For further details or suggestions on appropriate feeding of native wildlife, you can give Irene a ring on 0409 026 883.

During seasons that are unusually dry and warm many species of native wildlife will continue breeding. Consequently, when checking wildlife injured on the road, remember to check the pouches of marsupials for infant animals. Pouched young can survive for several days after the death of their mother.