Unfortunately then another wombat joey came into care! Her name is Brindabella or Brindy for short. She came into care at around four months old and weighing over 500 grams. Brindy’s mum was hit by a car. Luckily a member of the public stopped and checked the pouch and found little Brindy.
Although the vehicle killed the mum, Brindy was mostly protected in the pouch by mum’s body. However Brindy still received a few injuries from the impact and arrived in care with several bruises and grazes on her body and a bump on her nose. She was taken to a vet and then delivered to ACT Wildlife.
Brindy is in care with another wildlife carer and will stay with them until she is released back into the wild. As soon as another wombat joey comes into care around the same stage of development she too will have a buddy to join her.
Now there’s no way I could cope with three wombats in care! Brindy isn’t in my care and doesn’t really feature in my story but of course wildlife carers get together and share stories. We discuss the progress and development of each animal in our care both past and present. We compare the growth stages and share our knowledge and experience. During one of these visits Elsie and Barney had the opportunity to meet Brindy. Elsie wouldn’t leave her pouch (she’s not that social or interested in wombats!) but Barney was fascinated. Barney is one of the craziest and most playfully aggressive wombat joeys in care, yet he was incredibly gentle with Brindy! Who would have thought!?
ACT Wildlife currently have 14 wombats in care with 10 carers – a couple of us have two wombats in care. We also have 42 possums and 31 birds in care and it isn’t even spring yet! We are always in need of donations – if you would like to donate please check out our webpage for how to donate or ways to sponsor a species – http://actwildlife.net
But more about our lovely Elsie and Barney in my next blog which will be posted shortly! The next stage – their play stage… so much fun! Stay tuned……
Instagram page – wombats_and_wildlife_heljan09.
Working with Australian Wildlife - Helen Hardy 