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Little joey “Phoenix” rises from the ashes of the Springwood bushfires

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

A small male swamp wallaby with burns to his feet orphaned by the Springwood bushfires in the Blue Mountains is safe in the care of WIRES today after sadly losing his mother.

WIRES rescuer Shannon King rescued little Phoenix after a member of the public found him alone at the back of their property. Shannon said “ He was very nervous and frightened when I picked him up and at first he was very unsure about having his first bottle feed with me. He got the shakes because he was so used to his mother feeding him he didn’t really know what to do.”

Weighing in at just over 1.1kg and estimated to be around 9 months of age, the little wallaby was then transferred into the care of WIRES member Christelle Gilmore. Christelle said “He is just a delight. He is like the light in an otherwise quite dark time for wildlife. He loves his bottle. I’m feeding him every 6 hours and although he was nervous at first when he started feeding with Shannon, he has now lost the nerves and is relishing every feed. I don’t name animals in care but my 8 year old daughter Evie said to me “Mummy, he came from the bushfires and he rose from the ashes so we should call him Phoenix!”

Christelle is a dedicated WIRES macropod carer and in addition to little Phoenix she has two eastern grey kangaroo joeys in care also orphaned by the fires. “The two other joeys are male and female and fortunately haven’t sustained burns like Phoenix has. It seems what has happened with them is they were thrown out of mums pouch when she was startled. They are a lot more boisterous than him and they are all doing really well”

“Phoenix is still going to the vet to get his feet tended to regularly but they are healing. I will have him in care for at least 6 months by which time he should be ready to go and be a wild swamp wallaby again.”

WIRES General Manager, Leanne Taylor said: “ The Blue Mountains is today severely impacted by the bushfires and we truly hope we can save as many animals as possible in the coming days. Our thoughts are with everyone in the areas affected and encourage anyone who finds a native animal injured or orphaned by the fires to call us on 13000 WIRES.”

If you find a native animal in distress or need any advice or help please call WIRES on 13000 WIRES (1300 094 737)

WIRES is a registered charity and relies heavily on donations from the general public at these times more than ever.

Donations to our Bushfire appeal can be made online at www.wires.org.au or by phoning (02) 8977 3396

Media Contact: WIRES (02) 8977 3327

Media Email: media@wires.org.au