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Hidden dangers of a suburban backyard are revealed in one picture – as wildlife rescuer opens up about her ‘soul destroying’ job
- Shocking photo shows the hidden dangers koalas encounter in suburban homes
- Rescuer Amy Wregg, shared image of a drowned koala at the bottom of a pool
- Wregg has saved over 100 koalas over three months with WIRES and WildCare
A heartbreaking photograph has revealed the hidden danger backyard pools pose to koalas.
Professional koala rescuer Amy Wregg, shared a photo of a drowned koala lying at the bottom of a suburban pool in the Gold Coast last year.
The marsupial got into trouble after trying to escape a male during mating season before finding herself trapped in the water and unable to climb to safety due to a lack of trees.
Professional koala rescuer Amy Wregg, shared a heartbreaking photo of a drowned koala lying at the bottom of a suburban pool in the Gold Coast (pictured)
Although the koala’s joey was successfully rescued, Ms Wregg described her work as ‘soul destroying’.
‘Personally, it is watching them decline so rapidly and feeling like we are hitting our heads against a wall,’ Ms Wregg told YahooNews.
In just three months, she has saved more than 100 koalas while working tirelessly for rescue groups WIRES and WildCare.
But despite her phone ringing every 20 minutes for the next rescue, Ms Wregg said finding a safe release area for koalas is the ultimate challenge.
‘We rescue a sick koala which survives the disease or injury it has sustained, to be released back home which is already listed for development and translocation is not an option in older koalas,’ she said.
In three months, Amy Gregg has saved over 100 koalas while working tirelessly for rescue groups WIRES and WildCare (pictured)
The Queensland government said there are gaps in their koala conservation, with an independent koala expert panel advising ‘existing arrangements’ were ‘not effectively protecting koalas’.
But more than $1.5billion has already been allocated to conduct a new motorway – the Coomera Connecter – which will drastically impact local koala habitats.
With more than 40 koalas already living in stage one of the motorway, conservation groups fear the koalas will have nowhere to go during breeding season.
Koala researcher Stephen Phillips, said he sees no future for koalas due to the government being ‘spectacularly uninformed’ about planning around local wildlife.
‘I see it as cruel and inhumane to let animals remain in those landscapes when better planning decisions could have had a better conservation outcome,’ he said.
Dr Phillips is concerned that one day there will be no koalas left in some areas, leaving rescuers deflated after years of hard work.
‘I’m tired of all this bleating going on about what’s happening to koalas, because by-and-large it’s a government responsibility and we could fix it pretty quickly, but government won’t.’
Koala rescues have been described as ‘soul destroying’, with new government constructions impacting local koala habitats (pictured: a koala rescued by WildCare)
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