Shelter Spotlight August 2024
Bungalook Creek Wildlife Shelter
Name of Operator: Emma Cash
Years of operation: 18 years
Suburb/area covered: Generally Yarra Ranges, but we have animals come from around Victoria.
Species you care for: Kangaroos, Wallabies, Grey-headed Flying Foxes, Microbats, Wombats, Possums, Gliders, Pygmy Possums, Echidnas and Koalas. Pretty much anything with fur!
Contact: Upper Yarra Wildlife Rescue Network - 0427 088 121
How does Bungalook Creek support wildlife and their habitat?
Our rescue and rehabilitation shelter is 100% volunteer based. We provide support to native wildlife which have been left injured or orphaned through no fault of their own. We regularly receive animals who have been hit by cars, attacked by roaming pet cats and dogs and stuck on fencing. We also provide rehabilitation support to wildlife impacted by natural disasters such as fires, storms and mass starvation events.
As humans continue to create spaces to live, work and play we are also destroying native wildlife habitat at a rate our native species will never recover from. We cannot continue to destroy their habitat, whilst complaining when native wildlife appear in the urbanised world just trying to survive.
What advice would you give the public?
If a young child and their parent were lying on the side of the road, would you stop to help, or at least call for help?
There is no difference between the above scenario and a kangaroo and their joey lying beside the road. Neither want to be in the situation they are in and both the humans and kangaroos would be terrified. Imagine crying for your mum and her not move or respond, while all around you cars continue drive past or over.
You don’t need to be trained to make a difference, just a little bit of compassion. By stopping and calling for help, you may just be that hero that young joey was needing.
Wildlife Bungalook .Creek have had in care
There are many ways to help our wildlife and we get lots of calls a week with concerned Members of Public wanting to help. You can do this by reporting injured and orphaned wildlife or donating funds so that we can provide ongoing support to wildlife shelters.