Category Archives: From the President

BEYOND COMPREHENSION (from the AWPC President)

Agile-wallaby-project-Cairns

An update on Australia’s treatment of Kangaroos and Wallabies state-by-state

Dateline: August 2020.

I THOUGHT THAT in this message to you I would attempt to pick out a few of the numerous situations for wildlife across the continent that I am extremely concerned about, this time focusing on Kangaroos and Wallabies. Sadly these provide a pattern for the behaviour and conduct of governments in Australia that extend to other species as well.

ABOVE: There is some good news — Shai Ager and her colleagues (The Agile Project) are relocating Agile Wallabies in North Queensland. See more at end of article. (Image used with permission.)

The very difficult situation faced by Australia’s wildlife makes life very difficult for people as well. I want to thank everyone involved, the AWPC committee, its members and all the other groups, in Australia and overseas, that are working so hard to try to change the attitudes and behaviours that lead to so much cruelty towards, and endangerment of these very precious Australian species.

Frustratingly at this time I am in lockdown in inner Melbourne and that makes dealing with these issues many times more difficult than it would normally be. We prefer to be out there with the animals rather than shut away in the city.

I made the following point to Lily D’Ambrosio, Victoria’s Minster for the Environment, just this morning:

“We should all be very clear that COVID is not a cover for either ignoring the current circumstances (which are dire), or increasing attacks on, biodiversity and biomes in this state”.

Further to lockdown, face masks and wildlife

I want to make the following points about this, during the various lockdowns (Melbourne begins a night time curfew as of this evening) we have done what was asked of us, which goes without saying, and continued to work on our projects at home and online. The food has been delivered and we exist in relative safety.

We are where we are now because many in the community chose to ignore their responsibilities and duty-of-care to others. The breaches of restrictions in the place we live were evident as parties continued and social distancing protocols were ignored. What this has done is to place many of us in very great danger; the front line workers, particularly those in the health care sector, various government employees having to deal with this situation, essential retail staff and the list goes on. We thank them all. We are still much better off than many of our friends across the world, where food is scarce and the opportunity to isolate does not exist.

It is extremely important that everyone wears a face mask to reduce the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus, the international data on the subject tells a very compelling story. Around the world masks are now everywhere. Many of these masks are single-use and we now see them washing up on the beach and discarded in the streets.

Japan, where mask use is commonplace, particularly when people are using public transport or shopping, produces 4 billion disposable face masks each year, most are used in Japan. So multiply that around the world and we are talking vast numbers of face masks being discarded each and every day. Every single mask, unless disposed of with care, is a deadly hazard for wildlife, both on land or in the sea.

kangaroo-shoes-aug2020Kangaroos are not shoes

In California, where the virus also rages, our friends from the Centre for a Humane Economy release a new study as part of its Kangaroosarenotshoes campaign, which is now gaining attention around the world.

“We now learn the true death and displacement toll as a result of Australia’s catastrophic wildfires may be three billion animals, including uncounted kangaroos,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Center for a Humane Economy. “It’s now being called ‘one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history’. Despite this crisis, commercial shooters are still massacring kangaroos, and their skins are still being sold in California despite a law that makes it a crime to trade in their parts.”  

“Australia’s commercial kangaroo shootings, the world’s largest wildlife slaughter, is being further fuelled by vast violations of a ban on kangaroo body parts in the State of California, according to a new study by the Center for a Humane Economy, a US-based non-profit organization that promotes animal welfare in the business sector”. 

Matters of concern post fire

“Nearly three billion animals — mammals, reptiles, birds, and frogs — were killed or displaced by Australia’s devastating 2019–20 bushfires”.  WWF

You may recall that we spent almost two months travelling the fire grounds in NSW / the ACT and Victoria and did so around that devastating Christmas period of 2019–2020. That was trauma enough, but what shocked me to the core was that, despite the vast numbers of native animals killed during that time, and the large amounts of money flooding in to rescue and care for wildlife because of the fires, the killing of Kangaroos and other native Australian animals continued without mercy. Here are a few examples.

The killing of Kangaroos in the ACT

As you can imagine I receive a large number of communications from people around the world, including Australia, who are very concerned about what is happening to Australia’s wildlife — the killings in Canberra are not a good international image for this country and I can say that this negative perception has grown markedly and will continue to do so unless things change.

What follows is a quote regarding Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve in the ACT where shooting had just occurred:

“Never let it be said that driving heavy vehicles on soggy ground, then stepping all over the grass, plants and flora, gets in the way of killing Kangaroos”.  Robyn Soxsmith (Animal Protectors Alliance) 23 June 2020

The threatened species, which the ACT Government says it is protecting through its mass Kangaroo killing programs, continue to disappear, even after all the Kangaroos have gone. After the removal of Kangaroos from grasslands, cattle appear (ecological grazing) on grassland reserves, hazard reduction burns are also conducted and the plans for Canberra’s expansion suggest another 100,000 homes are required. The science that drives the killing is dubious at best.

RELATED STORY:
They’re advised not to shoot Mums in Canberra, ACT — but they do, here’s how

To try to help the local effort to stop the killing, I had a long discussion with Greens MP, Shane Rattenbury, (among other portfolios he is the Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability). Shane has been a keen and long-term supporter of the killing. Shane believes the ACT’s science and quotes it over and over again despite what I described to him. So we went around in a big circle and the killing continues.

According to FOI information obtained, it looks like the ACT Government has spent something in the order of $3.321 million in the four years to 2019 on matters associated with killing Kangaroos.

It is very evident to me, and I am talking continent-wide here, that those protecting wildlife get nothing (particularly if they are protecting Kangaroos), while those killing and demeaning Australia’s wildlife are paid handsomely for their work. It is clear from the rapid endangerment of more and more species across the continent that all governments could have done a great deal better. The current results are a marker of performance.

South Australia and the killing of Kangaroos, adding Wallabies

I have challenged the South Australian Government on their plans to ‘prey switch’ by adding other species of Wallaby and Kangaroo to their ‘harvest list that legalises this abhorrent and cruel trade in wildlife. Additional species include the Kangaroo Island Tammar Wallaby (mainland species thought to have been extinct) and the Eastern Grey Kangaroo (until recently described by the South Australian Government as rare in the state). The later magically increasing in population while other species, because of severe drought and significant levels of killing, have experienced significant declines in already exaggerated population estimates.

“The SA Government estimates there are about 1.5 million red kangaroos in the state, followed by 1.3 million western grey kangaroos and 570,000 wallaroos, or euros. For red kangaroos, that is a fall of 39 per cent from the previous year and 4 per cent down on the average”.  ABC July 2020

The response from the government in relation to my questions regarding the Eastern Grey Kangaroo was as follows:

“Kangaroo populations in the north of the state have declined since 2018 due to drought conditions that continue to effect these regions. The Eastern Grey Kangaroo has increased in distribution and abundance in the south east of SA over the last 10–15 years and no longer meets the requirements of a rare species under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.” 

Shockingly one response from the government, when I asked about the dangers inherent in this industry in relation to disease, including COVID and its evident presence in factories processing animals, simply stated that:

“Agricultural industries, which includes the commercial kangaroo industry, and related businesses across the food chain are considered an essential service and may operate as normal with consideration of social distancing and other restrictions”.  SA Department of Environment and Water

Kangaroo Island that tourists love: also a target for kangaroo killing?

Given the scale of the fire tragedy on Kangaroo Island, which also received significant funding for wildlife rescue and rehabilitation from around the world (and the species on it were also a pre-wildfire target for expansion of the commercial trade in Kangaroos and Wallabies) required a question from me in relation to the population survey being conducted on the island and what the government calls a ‘harvest’. Here is the answer:

“The purpose of a kangaroo and wallaby survey on Kangaroo Island is to gather an island wide population estimate post-fire. This information will be used to inform decisions regarding a sustainable harvest on the island”.  SA Department of Environment and Water

In Victoria (as of 3 August 2020) the case of the Lilydale Kangaroos, is yet another stranding, despite the government’s promises that this would not be allowed to happen again. The lives of these animals, they were due to be killed in the next few days as I write, hung in the balance. Along with strong submissions from neighbouring residents and other wildlife defender groups I wrote to the Victoria’s Environment Minister:

“I understand that DELWP are using the excuse that Kangaroos cannot be rescued successfully as 40 percent will die when relocated. As I have said over and over and over again in my many communications to the Victorian Government and in my many writings and articles on the subject, this assertion is a falsehood. And by ignoring the evidence and circumstances we face today, the Victorian Government ignores the endless and immense suffering these animals experience (not to mention the sentient humans that live in this state) caused by the actions of the Victorian Government and its archaic attitudes. And in continuing with the same old nonsense, ignoring the extraordinary loss of wildlife, not only from the persecution of numerous native species by the government (Labor is at least twice as bad as what proceeded it — which was terrible) but also from the wildfires. The latter, can be described as the greatest single catastrophe for Australian wildlife in thousands of years.”

We can only hope, particularly given the disastrous COVID situation in Victoria, that theses animals, a small number, get a reprieve and the government shows some common sense and compassion, rather than allowing the killing of wildlife to continue while the rest of us are told to stay at home.

Now we move to Melbourne’s North and the peri-urban local government area of Nillumbik. I had a strong sense that the Victorian Government’s environment department (DELWP) was trying to open up Melbourne’s peri-urban local government areas (where Kangaroos still exist) to commercial shooters. This is because Kangaroo populations in the rural parts of the state have been decimated as is evident by the figures now showing up on government reports. I hope that the significant concern from a lot of people that this might be the plan, has kept this terrible plan at bay for now. We do however all need to keep an eye on the situation.

The killing of Kangaroos in some regions of Victoria has been significant, and that includes the area around the settlement of Dunkeld in that state’s west where shocking scenes of butchering are described by the town’s residents and business people.

“We could hear shooting very close by and could see the vehicles moving around 178 Victoria Valley Road. We were terrified for, not only our lives, but our neighbours as well.  The Police did not attend; we went outside to see what was happening.  We called the Hamilton Police directly, but they again refused to come out, claiming that the shooter had a permit”.  Jane Gibb, Dunkeld

Queensland

Here, there is a well-deserved victory for wildlife. Our congratulations to Shai Ager and her colleagues for the hard won success. The battle has been with the Queensland Government, its Environment Department attempting to block rescue efforts of these beautiful and diminutive animals, and in doing so enabling the cruel death of many animals as they have been vandalised and poisoned.

 

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FROM THE AWPC PRESIDENT: In time of Covid-19, the wildlife issues that continue. Sadly, not much good news.

unnatural-disaster-creative-cowboy

The animals need our help more than ever.

Peter Hylands, April 2020.

SINCE WRITING TO you towards the end of last year, a very great deal has happened as an evolving tragedy for Australia’s wildlife has escalated. There is so much to say but I want to bring this communication down to some key points for you to think about.

ABOVE: All wildlife in Australia is in crisis because of the severe impacts of climate change being experienced across the Australian continent, the situation will continue to deteriorate for a long time to come.
Source: Unnatural disaster, Creative Cowboy Films.

I have spent many weeks, starting from early December on the road, from the deserts of Central Australia to the fire grounds of New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria and then back to Central Australia. We (our family) should now be with our friends in Maningrida and Ankabadbirri, but because of the virus this is clearly not possible. Instead we have spent the last weeks in lockdown in inner Melbourne, away from the nature of Australia that we love.

Here are the things I suggest we all need to think about.

Wildlife carers

During our travels through the fire grounds it became obvious just how important the rescuers and carers of wildlife are. These are the volunteers who dedicate their lives to the care and rehabilitation of wildlife. The enormous efforts by carers, often hampered by governments, to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife has been recognised around the world.

Now an urgent task is to ensure that wildlife shelters get the financial help they need, and there will be significant issues relating to access to volunteer communities, particularly from overseas, for many months to come. This places additional pressure on the physical resources needed to care for wildlife.

View story and video: Chris Lehmann at Kangaloola,
by Creative Cowboy Films

It is important that financial pressures on wildlife shelters are reduced. There are plenty of  funds available from the monies collected from around the world and those pledged by governments, to ensure equitable distribution of funds to where they are needed, in the front line of wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. We all need to be vigilant to ensure this occurs.

Australian governments: wildfires, COVID-19 and the natural world

There has been some extraordinary behaviour from various governments over the last few weeks and months, including from the state I am in currently, Victoria, and despite the enormous loss of biodiversity, nothing changes.

stubble-quail-cr-peter-hylands

The Victorian Government has quietly advised shooters that there will be a full season (4 April to 30 June 2020) for shooting native Stubble Quail [Coturnix pectoralis] in the state. IMAGE: Creative Cowboy Films.

In Victoria, the quail and duck shooting seasons were declared, in the case of waterbirds, the season and bag limits albeit reduced. The mass slaughter of Macropod species continued in most parts of the state with government staff doing all they can not to answer my questions regarding these matters, instead offering up misleading spin and entirely wrong information.

The blocking of wildlife rescue has also been a feature of the wildfires, as have the plans for the intensified and indiscriminate use of airdrops of 1080 poison (particularly in New South Wales) into areas impacted by wildfire and beyond.

As part of the wildlife rescue package from governments large budgets, in Victoria for example it is the largest share at $7 million, have been allocated to “predator control”. Just $1 million of the $17.5 million dollar budget has been allocated to the welfare of wildlife where it is most needed.

I am assured by Victorian Labor politician, Nina Taylor, that 1080 drops will not increase in Victoria. [See related story this issue about the NSW situation.]

“I followed up on your query regarding predator control. The predators in question are deer and pigs. They will not be baited by 1080. Rather I have been informed that they will be killed either on the ground/via the air — this is being scoped out currently. We should have further details soon”.

I thank Nina for her assistance.

When I checked with the Victorian Government’s DELWP this morning I was told there was no information nor advice regarding the Kangaroo commercial trade in wildlife in Victoria in relation to COVID-19.

Thank the virus. Vic government guidelines appear to prevent duck shooters from visiting public wetlands, including Ramsar sites, this year.

There is also confused messaging regarding quail and waterbird shooting, the Game Management Authority (GMA) advising AWPC committee member Chris Lehmann that duck shooting would be possible on “one’s” private property but overall Victorian Government guidelines will prevent duck shooters from visiting public wetlands, including Ramsar sites. The GMA stated they have been heavily restricted in what they can announce.

Meanwhile in South Australia

The duck shooting season commenced 28 March (closes sunset 31 May) and current messaging from that government as of today (6 April) states that “the 2020 South Australian Duck Open Season remains open to South Australian permit holders. All hunters are reminded to follow government guidelines on social distancing”.

Clearly there are significant dangers here for regional populations, with elderly and often unwell and disadvantaged people, from visitors to the regions using local shops and other facilities. We may come to learn that double standards, and exceptions for some, are dangerous indeed.

What is particularly troubling is that it appears that even as the fires were burning, wildlife was still being shot in state and national parks in Victoria. Parks Victoria refused to answer my questions on the matter telling me to go to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for answers, these are underway. The government, under FOI, initially pretending they did not know where their parks were in relation to the permits being issued.

Clearing habitat

During a time where the population’s attention was turned to the COVID-19 pandemic, new forestry agreements were signed in Victoria, further endangering Victoria’s wildlife and biodiversity.

Similar behaviours are occurring around the continent, the list is long. I am particularly worried about the Great Barrier Reef, mangroves and their ecosystems in the Gulf of Carpentaria and beyond, salt water encroachment in northern wetlands including Arnhem Land, the health of the Great Artesian Basin and arid Australia ecosystems, the flooding of Torres Strait Islands and the use of fire as a political tool (ignoring science), even in tropical wet forests (including places on the world heritage register such as Hinchinbrook Island), exacerbating climate change and biodiversity loss, rather than moderating its impact.

Land clearing and deforestation continue and has escalated in New South Wales and beyond.

Given all this, alarm bells are ringing loudly regarding the behaviour we can expect during the economic recovery phase of COVID-19. What has already become the wild west for wildlife and the environment is likely to become much worse, as exploitation of the environment, including wildlife increases, and peoples’ capacity to stop what is occurring, is diminished by regulation or confinement.

What is required now is a modern approach to the issues I describe here, I would like to think of this time as a new opportunity to restructure the Australian economy in ways that strengthen the economy against future environmental and heath shocks. That means protecting the environment and the biodiversity that surrounds us.

The locals who care

The level of distress communicated to us from residents in various states impacted by the mass commercial killing of kangaroos, from the shooting of birdlife for sport, from the unsupervised issuing of permits “to control wildlife” has been both alarming and deeply distressing.

I have communicated these concerns to politicians and have been completely ignored. These are very serious matters and what this situation demonstrates very clearly is the discrimination towards a significant number of people choosing to live and invest in Australia’s regions. We will continue to act on this matter, as we understand its grim impact on lives and livelihoods.

Macropods and related species

These animals require a special mention. The treatment of kangaroos and wallabies across the Australian continent remains a disgrace. There have been recent attempts at “prey switching” as target species become scarce.

A number of shooting zones have been closed to particular species or entirely because of extreme environmental conditions and because the populations of target species have been shot out. The government numbers remain dodgy and the behaviour of governments around these issues is extremely poor. There is a great deal of misleading spin in the media regarding these issues.

In December 2019 the AWPC made a submission to the National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes. The submission describes the issues in detail and is available here.

[Ed note: Many local and community groups in Australia are fighting for the kangaroo and AWPC urges you to follow and support them in your state and locality. Kanga Watch based in Queensland is a good example, as is Animal Liberation in NSW and Animal Protectors Alliance in the ACT. The Animal Justice Party in both NSW and Victoria and the Greens do what they can to influence their respective state governments through their members of parliament. Talk to them.]

COVID-19 and animals

There is no doubt that we are in the midst of our current pandemic because of the way in which we treat animals and the environment more broadly. We all know the story with some 75 percent of new viruses created by the unhealthy and squalid interactions of people and animals, including the trade in wildlife, and the devastation of ecosystems, and directly as a result of our own behaviours.

The current situation is of our making. Australia must now examine its own trade in wildlife, among the largest in the world, and a rethink of the way in which kangaroos and wallabies are treated is now required as a matter of urgency. [See more of this backstory by web editor Maria Taylor, Mother Nature fights back].

My own concern is that, as a result of what is occurring, animals everywhere do not suffer further discrimination and cruelty.

Solving Victoria’s extinction crisis

A Victorian Greens motion calling for an extinction inquiry in Victoria passed parliament on 30 October 2019. The inquiry will investigate and report on the decline of Victoria’s ecosystems, as well as the measures in place to protect threatened and endangered species, including:

  • The extent of the decline of Victoria’s biodiversity and its impact.
  • The adequacy of current legislation in protecting Victoria’s environment.
  • The effectiveness of government programs in restoring Victoria’s ecosystems.
  • Opportunities to restore the environment while upholding First Peoples’ connection to country.

In January I met with Ellen Sandell, the Greens MP heading the inquiry, to provide a detailed account of what is happening to biodiversity in Victoria.

Please keep an eye on the progress of this inquiry and make a submission when called for. As of today the information from Ellen is as follows:

“Parliament has signalled that the extinction crisis inquiry will happen, but we’re not sure exactly when. It could be in a few weeks, in a few months, or it might be longer. The first stage of the inquiry will be a call for submissions from experts and the community. This is something that can still happen while we’re all keeping our physical distance from each other, so we’re working to prepare material and resources to make sure the inquiry hears from you when it does kick off.”

Tasks ahead

This is not a time for further exploitation of the environment and secret and undemocratic deals and behaviours advantaging the few. This kind of behaviour will not provide the solution to how we recover from the economic shock of the wildfires and COVID-19.

It is also a time to reflect on our treatment of wildlife in Australia and to take this opportunity for developing new ways and structures to assist our beleaguered ecosystem and the animals that live in them.

The first thing to do will be to look at the government departments responsible for protecting ecosystems and wildlife, the failure of these departments is profound and expressed in the loss of biodiversity around the continent.

One task ahead for us all is to work towards the restructuring of these departments so that their purpose is not to defend and facilitate the destruction of the natural world, but rather be properly resourced to defend and care for what is uniquely Australian, and to do so for future generations of living things. That includes a proper set of policies relating to climate change.

At AWPC our task is to define some of the issues I raise here in terms of what actions can be taken to make the changes required to protect our biodiversity. We will work on this over the coming months and set out a series of actions we can all participate in.

 

 

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Incoming President’s message: from Peter Hylands

Peter-Hylands-president

I AM GOING to begin by expressing my sadness regarding the unprecedented scale and ferocity of the bushfires. I have visited the firegrounds on the South Coast of New South Wales and all of us at AWPC extend our thoughts to all of you in the firegrounds across this continent.

We commend the bravery of all those involved in fighting these fires and to the dedicated vets and wildlife carers engaged in animal rescue and rehabilitation activities.

I will also say this simple thing: wildlife in Australia is in crisis because of the severe impacts of climate change being experienced across the Australian continent, the situation will continue to deteriorate for a long time to come. That is why Australia’s wonderful wildlife now needs your help more than ever before.

New committee and thanks

I want to welcome and thank the new committee of the AWPC: Maria Taylor, Jan Heald, Chris Lehmann and Carmen Ryan. You may meet Carmen as administrative secretary this year.

A particular thank you goes to retiring AWPC secretary Eve Kelly. I would like to thank Eve for her dedication to both wildlife and to the AWPC.

I would ask that each of you encourage many others to join the AWPC to help in the very large task of ensuring a secure future for Australia’s species.

Issues for 2020 and let us hear from you

The AWPC, as a national wildlife organisation with a new managing committee, is still formulating specific priority campaigns and directions for 2020 keeping in mind the current extreme circumstances.

At one level we are considering how best to support positive, forward-looking, public and private initiatives (both economic and conservation-focused) that help and respect our unique wildlife and biodiversity.

We will continue to work with state-based and single-issue wildlife groups to strengthen our combined voice.

I also encourage AWPC members to tell us what you consider the most effective strategies and directions going forward to help and protect Australian wildlife. Write to us at awpc.office@gmail.com

Personally, I have three things at the very top of my list. The first is to put pressure on the various state and federal government authorities — that have continued to promote and issue permits for the killing of very large numbers of Australian animals during these extreme fires — to change their behaviours.

While Macropod species head the list of these tormented and vilified animals, another hundred or so Australian species are also subject to unjustified and barbaric practices. In the days following Christmas I, and others, have called on governments to stop the killing.

To date the Victorian Government has responded by putting a temporary halt to its commercial Kangaroo pet food trade. There are serious issues here regarding government standards including the use of misinformation, poor standards of governance and secretive and undemocratic behaviours.

While I am critical of all Australian governments, I am particularly critical of New South Wales, Queensland, ACT, Victoria and now South Australia. Each of these governments needs to lift their game and they need to understand the world is now watching them.

Australians who care need support, particularly now

The second thing on my list concerns people and their treatment by government departments. In some states, the treatment of wildlife carers, who are mostly self-funded volunteers, is abysmal.

Also, the level or the lack of support (including financial support) from governments who see some of our carer community as a nuisance and an obstacle to the agenda of mass scale killing of wildlife, needs to change.

Greater respect for carers is essential and this is also a matter of governance. Financial support from government must be a long term and stable measure, rather than window dressing at times when the world media is watching.

Also of concern are those Australians living in regional Australia who witness and are often harassed by the killing activities conducted by governments and industry.

Because of state-based legislation there are almost no avenues to complain about these horrendous acts occurring on their doorstep.

We have heard many such stories from individuals whose houses and children have been hit by shot from hunting activities and from those witnessing the butchering of kangaroos from their properties.

These are the animals that they have come to love. There is a great deal of anxiety and fear among many, for their families and the animals they have come to love; this horrible situation has now been extended to new regions including in Victoria and Kangaroo Island (both significantly impacted by fire). I will be looking at human rights implications here.

Thirdly, education. We must all do more to ensure that Australia’s wildlife is better known and understood and we need to engage more children and their parents in the fight to save wildlife. We need schools and teachers to engage with this critical issue.

If we don’t do these things our landscapes will be forever silent.

So far:

In the last few weeks and months I have made submission to various inquiries being held in Australia, these inquiries are; Australia’s Faunal Extinction Crisis (Commonwealth of Australia); Meeting obligations to protect Ramsar Wetlands (Victorian Government Auditor) and, because it required a response from the AWPC, the oddly named Review of the National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes (AgriFutures).

The world is watching us

I will end by saying that we were able to visit the Cobargo Wildlife Sanctuary in New South Wales shortly after the fires and to say to all of you that, as a result of what has occurred, there has been an outpouring of care and concern for Australian wildlife from around the world.

The help and care given to Sara and Gary at the Cobargo Wildlife Sanctuary, is among many such things. I think the world sees its own reflection in us.

 

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