Aussie drivers warned over ongoing 'carnage': 'We can't keep up'
Australian drivers are being urged to stay as vigilant as possible when driving on roads outside the city and to keep an eye out for wildlife as carers struggle to keep up with the number of injured animals coming into their care.
Wildlife rescuers are working around the clock to take in and coordinate treatment for wombats and kangaroos, often juvenile and small joeys, as well as other animals that are found on the side of the road. Some young wombats are coming in displaying bite marks from their peers after being left orphaned.
"We get a lot coming in, there's a lot of motor vehicle strikes," Kerstin Schweth from Native Wildlife Rescue told Yahoo News. "It's carnage at the moment."
The group, which operates in the NSW Southern Highlands area took in baby wombat on Saturday weighing just four kilograms. The male joey had wounds across its back which Kerstin believes were from other wombats. When joeys lose their mum, they can often try to join another mob, "but they're not very sympathetic," she explained. "I think those are bite wounds."
The group posted about the young wombat, alerting the public on Saturday. "He was found crossing the country all by himself, no wombat mum in tow," the rescuers explained. "We actually cannot keep up with posting their stories due to the time consuming special care these little guys need."
It's unclear at this point if he'll make it back to health. But it's not unusual for the team to have to "take them out of their misery," Kerstin told Yahoo.
Native Wildlife Rescue typically takes in three to four injured animals a week but there are days where the group have one or two joeys coming into their care a day.
"We find many more animals killed by the side of the road," she said.
According to researchers at Sydney University, an estimated 10 million native mammals, reptiles, birds and other species are killed on our roads every year.
"It's a really dire situation for our wildlife," Kerstin lamented.
Key thing for drivers to do
Carers take in more wildlife during winter when the days are shorter and there's more people driving when it's dark. But thanks to habit loss, the winters are getting increasingly deadly.
Cheap, wind-driven, wildlife whistles can be fixed to vehicles that claim to produce a high-pitched electronic sound, intended to scare wildlife away from the road. The devices are sold in Australia but researchers have questioned their actual effectiveness.
While Kerstin realises it might be too much to ask drivers to slow down, she says one thing motorists should always try and do is to stop and check on animals if they've been hit. Is come cases, there might be a vulnerable joey that can still be saved.
"Slowing down is ideal, but I understand that is not always feasible," she said.
"But if you collide with an animal, please stop where it's safe and then have a look. Get the animal off the road and check the pouch. I understand it might be daunting for some people but that's a big help.
"Because if you leave the animal in the middle of the road, other cars collide with the animal as well and could do further damage to a joey."
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