While we await our official Occupancy Certificate for the brand new Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital in Wollongbar, the team hasn’t wasted a moment. Thanks to a meaningful collaboration between NRWH and Vitality Vetcare, vital wildlife treatment has already begun.
Over the past two weeks, NRWH Volunteer Director Dr Megan Kearney has been working alongside the highly experienced wildlife vet Dr Peter Holz, who is also part of the Australian Wildlife Health Centre at Healesville Sanctuary. Together with our dedicated NRWH vet nurses, they’ve treated around 26 native animals using the facilities at Vitality Vetcare.
The patients have included a wide range of species – from rose-crowned fruit doves and a noisy pitta to rainbow lorikeets, tawny frogmouths, white-faced heron, golden whistler, white-headed pigeons, and even reptiles such as an eastern long-necked turtle, a blue-tongued skink, and coastal carpet pythons. Mammals cared for have included a ringtail possum, a mountain brushtail possum, and both black and grey-headed flying foxes.
Several of these species are listed as threatened, such as the rose-crowned fruit dove and the grey-headed flying fox, making this early work even more important.
In one particularly memorable case, Dr Peter and NRWH vet nurse Hollie performed delicate surgery to stitch the scalp of a black flying fox – all under torchlight during a power outage. Hollie also captured a heartwarming video of the flying fox calmly sipping electrolytes after the operation (check out our Instagram for more).
This collaboration with Vitality Vetcare has enabled us to begin delivering the expert care our local wildlife desperately needs, even before the official opening of our facility. It’s a powerful reminder of the dedication and passion behind the scenes as we prepare to open our doors.
We’re incredibly proud of our team and grateful for the ongoing support of the community as we get closer to launching the full operations of the Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital.
