By Tyler Wright
Emerald-Monbulk Wildlife Shelter has been overwhelmed by an influx of injured local wildlife as vehicles storm the Dandenong Ranges during the Easter Holiday period.
Carol Seeger runs the shelter and said the amount of wildlife hit by cars is increasing every year.
“With daylight saving animals are out on the road earlier in the dark and getting hit more often,” she said.
“And…especially because of the Easter holidays, a lot more people are on country roads, and a lot more animals are hit by cars [during] that time. I’ve had quite a lot in this short time.”
Research published in the journal Diversity and Distributions estimated 510 million birds and 1.4 billion mammals are killed by foxes and cats across Australia each year, an issue Carol is at the forefront of daily as wildlife come to ground searching for food.
During Melbourne’s Covid restrictions, Carol said local wildlife got used to not having human traffic around, but this quickly changed as restrictions eased.
“Cat’s are the main problem… and dogs, but mainly cats, and people not keeping them inside,” Carol said.
Wildlife Victoria reported 45 per cent of rescued animal cases were found ‘on ground’ or on the road, and Carol said it is important for drivers to check before they leave hit wildlife lying in the middle of the road – potentially saving them from an unnecessary death.
“A lot of times if people could just pick them up, they’re just concussed and there’s nothing much else wrong with them. But if they leave them on the road, then another car will come along and kill them,” she said.
“A lot of times it’s Tawny Frogmouths and Kookaburras especially – they seem to be a bit concussed and they just need a bit of time to rest and then they’ll be fine again.”
Carol’s work at the shelter is all-consuming – receiving calls day and night from Wildlife Victoria and those reporting injured wildlife.
“You don’t get much sleep with it,” she said.
The financial burden is also heavy, with Carol pouring her own funds into the shelter.
“The milk powder alone is $450 a bag, and I go through that every two to three weeks.”
But support from volunteers and the wider community has kept the shelter alive, with funding from Wildlife Victoria grants allowing new enclosures to house more animals and Warriors 4 Wildlife’s food donation program servicing the centre.
“I’ve got so many animals – a lot of kangaroos and wombats. I’ve got wallabies, I’ve got loads of birds, possums everything,” she said.
“I’m very lucky that I have a lot of volunteers also supplying me with fruit and veggies a couple of times a week which [is] really helpful”
“And the vets are great, they’ll give their time free of charge.”
Some volunteers continue to travel from Abbotsford and Parkville to nurse local wildlife back to health.
