A male Eastern Grey kangaroo is lucky to be alive, thanks to wildlife carers going the extra mile to conduct a dramatic rescue mission on the weekend.
The kangaroo became entangled in fence-line on private property near Tanja late last week, and was left with tape around his rear legs, inhibiting movement.
Distressed property owners David and Libby Bright alerted WIRES head office, who handed the case to local volunteer and Merimbula resident Janine Green.
“He could still hop but had to use his front paws to gain momentum because the twine was hindering him,” Ms Green said on Monday.
“I called the National Parks and Wildlife Service at Tanja. They had a look, but this roo was over six feet tall and in great condition, so there was no way they could wrestle him to the ground and cut the twine off him.”
Ms Green said NPWS called her back last Thursday afternoon, and said they couldn’t do anything except euthanasia.
“I asked them if they had a tranquiliser gun or dart gun but they didn’t,” Ms Green said. “No one in the area has the gun we need.”
On Friday Ms Green spoke with the landowners, Mr and Mrs Bright, who told her they were anxious to save the animal as he was a “big guy and the boss of the mob” on their property.
Inspired, Ms Green searched for a solution, and enlisted the help of Nimmitable wildlife carers Ray and Marie Wynan on Sunday.
“Ray came all the way to Tanja to help, and darted the kangaroo with the gun,” Ms Green said.
“A few minutes later the roo slowly lowered himself on to the ground, and we threw a blanket over his head,” Ms Green said, explaining that the drugs used were only a sedative, leaving the animal still conscious.
Ms Green and Ms Wynan quickly assessed the damage.
“What he’d done was got stuck, and in struggling to to get out of the fence he’d wrapped the white fence tape around his leg,” Ms Green said.
“We see this quite often, jumping from one side of the fence to the other, trying to free themselves, and just entangling themselves even more.”
Ms Green applied antibiotic and fly-spray to the wound, and injected the roo with long-acting antibiotic to stop infection.
“We then we left him alone and sat and watched him for over an hour while he recovered,” Ms Green said.
Landowners Mr and Mrs Bright reported back that the kangaroo was “up and hopping around” soon afterwards, and described the wildlife carers as “angels”.
