Bushfire victims « Junkgirl™

Extracted from this article on The Age

The anticipated influx of burnt and injured wildlife never arrived at Healesville Sanctuary after the fires. Staff members say only a trickle arrived while they were on standby for a flood.

“We’ve been surprised that the numbers have been so few,” head vet Rupert Baker said. “My concern is that the intensity and the magnitude of the fire means there were no small refuge areas for animals to hide.”

Suffering burnt pads, smoke inhalation and singed coats and feathers, many were too exhausted to put up a fight, almost welcoming human intervention.

“Ash”, the eastern grey kangaroo, is now an outpatient of Healesville Sanctuary. He came from around St Andrews and Kinglake West and spent the first few days after the fire at an animal triage centre in Whittlesea. He is now a border at the Shangri-La Wildlife Shelter, run by husband and wife team Rodney and Trish Hudson-Davies.

“All his whiskers on the left side have gone and he’s got fur ripple, which means he’s actually gone through a fire wall,” Mr Hudson-Davies said. “He would have gone straight through the middle of it.”

Of most concern are the third-degree burns to his front paws, hind legs and tail. Every few days dressings have to be cut off exposing the swollen, peeling and blackened pads which are cleaned and creamed before being covered again. It’s a process that is going to be repeated for months.

But Ash, as Mr Hudson-Davies has named him, seems almost calm; rare in a wild animal. Mr Baker said quietness is often a symptom of shock.

Despite the low numbers of wildlife arriving, Mr Baker said staff are euthanasing more animals than they are treating, such is the severity of the burns and injuries.