Debbie, Our Possum Coordinator

Debbie Ellis has always loved animals. When she was a child she was constantly bringing home stray animals to look after.

In her working career, Debbie spent 20 years with the Department of Education looking after children with special needs, especially asberger's syndrome, mainly at Narooma High School. Nowadays she is on a list at Moruya Primary School of people that can be called on to fill vacation care and after-school care requirements.

Debbie initially joined Australian Seabird Rescue but when she moved from Narooma to Pambula 8 years ago she transferred to WIRES. At first Debbie mainly cared for possums and gliders but a couple of years ago she branched out into caring for kangaroo and wallaby joey . She has found caring for wallabies especially suits her. Older eastern grey joeys are too big to accomodate on her property and wallabies are smaller and more robust health-wise.

Debbie still cares for squirrel and sugar gliders. As possum and glider coordinator, she likes to care for rescued possums for a couple of weeks to make sure they are healthy before handing them over to carers as she believes it is not fair for them to get a sick animal. Personally I have always found Debbie’s advice invaluable when I have cared for possums and gliders.

Debbie points out that despite food subsidies, carers are still paying out quite a bit for supplies such as bottles, teats, and other accessories.

Debbie believes wildlife carers are special people who have to cope with many hidden anxieties, interrupted sleep and time-consuming and even unpleasant tasks. The reward for Debbie is seeing baby animals grow into healthy young animals that can be released into the wild.

Loggerhead Turtles Washing Up

Last month a baby loggerhead turtle was found at One Tree beach, Tuross Head. Janet Jones says: "I contacted the Australian Seabird Rescue carer near Nowra, who already had three about the same size. She advised what immediate care and housing was required. We met at Ulladulla the next day so the turtle could have appropriate care, and be with others."

Extreme weather combined with a warm coastal current is thought to have carried these baby loggerhead turtles much further south than usual and pushed them back onshore. Hatchlings have also been found at Merimbula, Pambula, Vincentia and Currarong Beach.

Loggerhead turtles nest on beaches in Queensland until late February and then the hatchlings crawl into the ocean and swim out to sea. It is a time when they are extremely vulnerable. They are an endangered species that is important to the health of sea grass beds and reefs.

Anyone finding a baby turtle washed up on the beach should not try and put it back in the sea as it is likely to be exhausted and maybe even injured. It should be put in a box and transferred to Australian Seabird Rescue South Coast, tele: 0431 282 238

Ref: Grace Crivellaro, Extreme weather causing baby turtles to wash up on South Coast shores, Illawarra Mercury, 25 March 2021.

Regent Honeyeaters Losing Song

Young regent honeyeaters learn to sing from older honeyeaters around them. However because there are fewer than 300 individuals remaining as a result of land clearing, young honeyeaters are not learning their species' song.

"In healthy populations, the song of adult male honeyeaters is complex and long. But where the population is very small, the song is diminished and, in many cases, the birds have adopted the song of other species. Sadly, this makes the males less attractive to females, which may increase the chance the regent honeyeater will become extinct."

Ref: Ross Crates et. al., Only the lonely: an endangered bird is forgetting its song as the species dies out, The Conversation, 17 March 2021.

Echidnas are Ecosystem Engineers

Echidnas do a lot of digging in their search for ants to eat. They dig pits, furrows and depressions and in the process bury leaves and seeds in the soil which "helps improve soil health, promotes plant growth and keeps carbon in the soil, rather than the atmosphere”.

One study found that echidnas move about seven tonnes of soil (about 8 trailer loads) every year. The pits they create help seeds to mix with water and nutrients so they are more likely to germinate.

This means the more we help echidnas, the better the health of our soils and the more we help ourselves. This can be done by ensuring fallen timber is not removed from their habitat and vegetation corridors of shrubs and ground plants are created between patches of native bush.

Ref: David John Eldridge., Dig this: a tiny echidna moves 8 trailer-loads of soil a year, helping tackle climate change, The Conversation, 5 March 2021.

Slug Can Regrow a New Body

Two species of sea slug are able to detach their heads and regrow new bodies, complete with a new heart and internal organs. Researchers found that after detaching from their bodies they would start to eat and within a week they had whole new bodies.

Ref: Way to get ahead in life: The slug that can regrow its head, The New Daily, 9 March 2021.

More Australian Species Extinct

Australia’s official list of extinct mammal species and subspecies has increased from 28 to 39. It now includes the Christmas Island pipistrelle, desert bettong, Nullarbor barred bandicoot and the Capricorn rabbit-rat. This means Australia is responsible for 38 percent of the world’s extinct mammals, a worse record than any other nation.

"University of Sydney ecologist Professor Chris Dickman said extinctions didn’t just signal the loss of a species, but reduced the ongoing viability of their native ecosystems."

Ref: Mike Foley, Australia’s share of extinct animals rises as list of the lost updated, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 March 2021.

NSW Macropod Inquiry

The NSW Legislative Council is holding an inquiry into the health and wellbeing of kangaroos and other macropods in NSW. It is being chair by Cate Faehrmann, Greens MLC. Public submissions have been called for.

The inquiry has been prompted by the dramatic fall in kangaroo and wallaroos numbers of 40 percent from 17 million in 2016 to 10.5 million in 2021.

The inquiry will consider population numbers and threats such as climate change, drought, bushfires. land clearing and fencing, culling and killing of kangaroos.

Ref: Inquiry into the health and wellbeing of kangaroos and other macropods in New South Wales, Terms of Reference, Parliament of NSW, 15 March 2021.

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