Born to be wild

By Tania Martin
UPWEY High School students are doing their bit to help animals injured in the Black Saturday fires.
More than 160 Year 10 students collected $1900 during a recent school trip to central Australia.
They were concerned about the impact the bushfires had on local wildlife.
The cash was recently (23 June) donated towards Healesville Sanctuary’s Australian Wildlife Centre.
Veterinary nurse Kelly Wynn said the cash would be an amazing help.
She said it would go towards supporting the centre in its bid to rehabilitate animals burnt in the fires or left homeless and orphaned.
This includes the long-term rehabilitation and release of animals such as wombats, sugar gliders, koalas and echidnas.
Ms Wynn said many of the animals were now healthy but unable to be released back into the wild.
“We have to keep them until their habitat re-grows…there is nothing left of it,” she said.
But Ms Wynn said the centre needed to emulate the wild so the animals didn’t become domesticated.
“If we don’t do that they won’t be able to go back into the wild,” she said.
Ms Wynn said gliders in particular had special needs which included feeding on a specific type of nectar and eucalyptus gum leaves.
“That’s what we will be spending the money on…we can send the staff out to find the right food for them,” she said.
“We need to keep the animals in the lifestyle they deserve and are accustomed to – to make it the same as the wild.”