How a pouch-check can save an orphaned joey’s life.
Everyone knows that mother kangaroos have baby joeys that hang out in their pouches, but not everyone knows that bandicoots, wombats, gliders, possums (including pygmy possums), koalas and antechinus are also marsupials! Marsupials are mammals that have pouches in which their offspring suckle and develop. All marsupial babies are referred to as “joeys”. Ringtail possums will often have twin joeys and bandicoots, gliders and antechinus can have multiple joeys in their pouches all at once! In fact, antechinus can have up to 12!
Another thing that people don’t always know is that if a marsupial mum is hit and killed by a car or beheaded by a predator, their pouch-young can still survive – often for days! Wildlife carers can raise these orphaned joeys and release them back to the wild after being in care for many months.
At this time of year, there are many marsupials with pouch-young. Also, at this time of year, dusk and dawn coincide with peak-hour traffic, resulting in many wildlife casualties on our roads. It’s really important for people to know that a deceased wallaby, possum, koala or bandicoot could mean that there are orphaned babies waiting to be rescued!
What should you do if you find a deceased marsupial?
If you are not comfortable undertaking a pouch-check, please call Sydney Wildlife Rescue (02) 9413 4300 or your local wildlife rescue organisation and give them the location details of the deceased animal. They can then send a rescuer to do it. Please ensure your own safety whenever stopping on a road to assist injured native wildlife.
Morgan’s story – a lucky escape
Morgan the swamp wallaby joey was orphaned on a road in Oxford Falls. A member of the public spotted her catapulting out of her dead mother’s pouch after being hit accidentally by a car. The member of the public activated their car hazard lights and safely pulled over to pick up the joey. In a cruel twist of fate, another vehicle overtook their car and ran over the joey’s tail, adding to the injuries she had already sustained.
where she was examined and treated for her injuries before being sent home with a registered volunteer wildlife carer. Due to her injuries, Morgan required two-hourly feeds around the clock and lots of TLC of course! Sydney Wildlife Rescue’s Mobile Care Unit volunteer vets reviewed her for further wound treatment and placed her on antibiotics, however she later required a partial amputation of her injured tail. Recently, Morgan’s stitches were removed, and she is progressing in leaps and bounds! The Sydney Wildlife Rescue team is confident she will make a complete recovery after another year in care and rehabilitation before her release into the wild.
Sydney Wildlife Rescue is a charitable organisation fully run by volunteers, with the mission to rescue and care for sick, injured, and orphaned native wildlife, and safely release them back into the wild when healthy. We rely on community donations and support to complete our mission.
To donate, please visit www.sydneywildlife.org.au and make sure to buy Tawny Grogmouth! All funds raised going to Sydney Wildlife Rescue.
If you see native wildlife that you think need assistance, you can call Sydney Wildlife Rescue 24/7 on (02) 9413 430