Due to the ever-growing population, subsequent habitat destruction and threat of other animals such as dogs and cats, the RSPCA Queensland’s Wildlife hospitals are busier than ever.
However, it’s one RSPCA Wildlife Hospital at Wacol and the small wildlife triage centre at Eumundi that have seen no easing of numbers, treating over 27,000 animals in 2020 alone, including wildlife from Logan City, says RSPCA QLD spokesperson Michael Beatty. That number has skyrocketed from 8,500 patients a year back in 2012.
“Our Wacol hospital is by far the busiest in the Southern Hemisphere,” Mr Beatty said. “At this time of the year the hospital can actually receive over 100 patients a day.”
With a wide network of animal ambulance officers and also a large carers network, when it comes to injured wildlife, the vets in the Logan City and Greater Brisbane area will send them to Wacol Wildlife Hospital, Mr Beatty said.
“On the Gold Coast you have Currumbin Wildlife Hospital and on the Sunshine Coast you have the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, but Wacol is in the centre and we’re the only wildlife hospital that have animal ambulances on the road and have lots of signage with the 1300 number that people call to report injured wildlife,” he said.
The main reason the hospital has become busier and busier as the years have gone on, Mr Beatty said, is undoubtedly habitat destruction and what comes after that in regards to traffic on the road and dog attacks, particularly when it comes to koalas.
“Most of the koalas that come into our care are the victims of either [being run over] on the road during the trauma season which is now, or they’ve been attacked by dogs in backyards,” Mr Beatty said.
“Also, there’s just clear felling of a large area, where often there’s no vegetation left, so habitat destruction is a major problem, and I don’t think it’s a problem that’s going to go away, while you have an expanding population.”
Mr Beatty said there should be corridors and more bridges over roads specifically designed for wildlife, as seen in Canada, the United States and the UK in particular, which have proved extremely successful. There also needs to be an expansion of the Wacol hospital.
“We’re looking for another area where a larger facility can be built,” he said. “We’ve expanded an area in Wacol…that’s now been taken over by the wildlife hospital, and that’s a very small triage centre for birds and koalas, but we need to have somebody step forward to donate some land where another facility can be built.
“We’re also in discussions with the state government to fund that, because we can’t just totally rely on donors yet again, they’re already funding us.”
If you come across a sick or injured animal, contact the RSPCA’s 24/7 Animal Emergency Hotline, 1300 ANIMAL (1300 264 625).
