Surprise reason why hand-reared wombat 'brutally' attacked Aussie rescuer

It was a day like any other when wildlife rescuer Beth Nasser was "brutally" attacked by a wombat at the wildlife sanctuary she owns.

"[The wombat] just lunged out from underneath me," she told Yahoo News Australia. "I must have put my hand out to defend myself because I was on the ground and he's just ripped my hand apart."

BamBam — the 42 kilogram wombat — had been reared by Nasser when he was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, yet he almost inflicted fatal injuries to her at the start of the month.

After being released into the bushland surrounding her wildlife sanctuary in the NSW southern tablelands, he has "well and truly" been considered a wild animal for over a year.

"He's a big wild animal and I got complacent," Nasser admitted. "I'm quite experienced in dealing with wombats which is the only reason I was able to get myself on top of him. If he'd grabbed my throat I wouldn't be here today."

Rescuer doesn't have 'much use' of hand after wombat attack

The wildlife rescuer was transported to a hospital in Canberra and suffered "heaps of bites" and bruising all over her body, with two notable bites on her leg and shoulder resulting in 14 stitches. However, her hand copped the brunt of the wombat's attack.

"He ripped off my whole palm, all my muscle tendons and bone were exposed," she said, likening the "traumatic" experience to an autopsy. "I don't have much use of the hand at all."

After undergoing plastic surgery — and with a skin graft not ruled out yet — Nasser has a long journey ahead of her after enduring "terrible pain", but believes she will regain full functionality of her hand.

Wombat did 'nothing wrong', rescuer said

Despite the ordeal, Nasser is determined to hold the attack up as an example to remind others not to "demonise" wild animals, but rather treat them with the respect they deserve.

"He [BamBam] was doing a perfect job at patrolling and keeping his territory safe, he done nothing wrong ... It's not in their nature to have an unprovoked attack, but they are wild, they are unpredictable."

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"It's important to realise that while they are beautiful and cute and cuddly as joeys, we don't know the character of that animal in the wild," she said. "He is the alpha male and just like humans, there's leaders that are good leaders and those leaders that are aggressive."

When asked whether the attack has deterred her from her work, Nasser responded with a resounding 'No'.

"Absolutely in no way, not one iota has it deterred me from working with wombats. It was not the wombat's fault."

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