Wildcare
Volunteer Involvement
Telephone Duty:
Wildcare provides a 24 hour emergency service for the benefit
of the community. During business hours beetwen Monday and Friday
calls are answered by our dedicted team of office volunteers.
After hours, incoming calls are diverted to our volunteers at
their own home.
Membership: All members to Wildcare Australia
receive a Membership Card. Members that wish to become involved
with wildlife rehabilitation, are invited to attend our Orientation
Program where they will receive their first training and a copy
of the Wildcare Australia Volunteer Manual.
Management Committee:
There are a number of volunteers who have accepted a role on the
Management Committee including President, Vice-President, Secretary
and Treasurer.
Working Committee:
In addition to the Management Committee, there is another team
of dedicated volunteers that assist the Management Committee by
holding positions such as Assistant Secretary, Record Keeper,
Fundraising Coordinator, Telephone Coordinator and Species Coordinators.
Newsletter:
Volunteers contribute to the quarterley newsletter WILDNEWS and
edit, print and distribute it to all current members and sponsors.
Education:
Wildcare prides itself on its extensive Education Program. We
run regular training workshops on most species of native wildlife
which are provided free of charge to all Wildcare members. We
also periodically offer specialised training workshops for volunteer
wildlife rehabilitators.
Fundraising:
Volunteers are responsible for raising funds to keep the group
operational. Raffles, donations, grants and support from the general
community are the main source of funding.
Shop: Volunteers
run a shop which supplies wildlife goods at greatly reduced prices
to registered rehabilitators to assist them with the financial
burden of rehabilitating wildlife.
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Wildcare
Volunteer Aims and Objectives
- To rescue and rehabilitate
sick, injured, orphaned and displaced native wildlife with the
intention of returning them to the wild.
- To provide extensive
and up to date training for wildlife volunteers in all aspects
of wildlife care.
- To promote the need
to protect wildlife by maintaining and re-establishing habitat,
and by controlling feral and domestic animals.
- To advise the community
on solutions to wildlife problems
- To make the public
more aware of Australia’s unique wildlife and its diverse
habitat requirements
- To operate an professional
wildlife organisation in South-East Queensland which can be
contacted at any time by any person in the community needing
assistance with the care or rescue of native wildlife
- To publish a newsletter
every 3 months and distribute it to current members and sponsors
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Wildcare
Volunteer Rules and Regulations
All wildlife rehabilitators:
- Are required to be
financial members of Wildcare Australia (Australian Koala Hospital
Association Incorporated).
- Shall complete the
Wildcare Australia Orientation Program before commencing volunteer
work as a wildlife rehabilitator
- Shall complete all
compulsory Wildcare Australia wildlife training workshops per
year as listed in the Education Calendar.
- Shall complete at
least one workshop each year for EACH species that they wish
to care for
- Are required to register
all animals, including those, which have come into their care
from a source outside Wildcare Australia, with the appropriate
Wildcare Species Coordinator.
- Are required to notify
the Management Committee promptly if, for any reason, they are
unable to continue with their volunteer work for Wildcare Australia.
- Shall be aware that
the rescue and rehabilitation of native animals can involve
considerable personal danger and shall, at no time put their
own lives, or the lives of others, at risk in performing their
volunteer work for Wildcare Australia. Wildcare Australia accepts
no liability for injury or death caused in the course of any
volunteer work undertaken for or on behalf of the Association.
The Management Committee
of Wildcare Australia has the right to approve or revoke membership
to the group.
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Basic
Equipment for Rescue and Emergency Care
Wildcare Volunteer Carers
will need the following basic equipment for wildlife rescue and
emergency care:
- Gloves
- Cardboard boxes of
various sizes
- Ice cream container
for baby birds
- Pet carrier
- Towels
- Net for catching
birds
- Torch
- Hot water bottle
or heat pad
- Recommended carer’s
guide - Caring for Australian Wildlife by Sharon White
- Betadine (for cleaning
wounds)
- Glucodin (1 teaspoon
of Glucodin to 1 cup of warm pre-boiled water)
- Lectade
- Syringes
- Tweezers
- Scissors
- Thermometer
- Scales (1 gram increments)
- Coloured globes (red
or blue) 25 and 40 watts
- Blanket
If you are fostering
birds you will also need:
- A good field guide
for birds such as the Simpson and Day Field Guide to the Birds
of Australia
- Wire cages/large
aviary
- Feeding containers
- Milton sterilising
solution (rinsed with boiling water afterwards)
- Insectivore Rearing
Mix
- Lorikeet / Honeyeater
Rearing Mix,
- Good quality Parrot
Rearing Mix
- Wombaroo First Aid
for Birds
- High quality wild
bird seed mix
- A small quantity
of ox or lamb heart and minced meat stored in the freezer
- Hospital box
- Medium size fish
tank
- Crop feeding tubes
(advanced carers only)
If you are fostering mammals you
will also need:
- Recommended text
- Complete Book of Australian Mammals R Strahan (Ed) Australian
Museum
- Selection of suitable
sized sacks - cotton, or wool lined with cotton (no synthetics)
- Sheepskin pouches
(inside joeys only)
- Small glass bottles
- Teats, suitable for
the particular animal eg possum, bat, wallaby
- Wombaroo First Aid
for Mammals
- Milton sterilising
solution
- Napisan (for disinfecting
sacks)
- Tissues (for toileting)
- Lanolin (pesticide
free) or QV cream (for unfurred joeys)
- Suitable milk replacement
product as appropriate for the particular animal
- Heat pad
- Thermometer with
probe
- Cage and large aviary
for possums
- At least a twenty
metre yard with high fence for wallabies and kangaroos
- Good supply of native
vegetation
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List
of Useful Books for Wildlife Carers
For your reference, the following
booklist has been produced.
The Wildcare Office stocks many of these books.
General Wildlife Books
‘Caring for Australian Wildlife’
– White, Sharon. Australian Geographic, 1997.
‘Care and Handling of Australian Native Animals’ –
Hand, Suzanne. Surrey, Beatty, 1990
‘Wildlife of Greater Brisbane’ – Queensland
Museum.
‘The Mammals of Australia’ - Strahan, R. Reed, 1995
‘Caring for Possums’ – Smith, Barbara. Kangaroo
Press. 1995
‘Possums’ – Stanvic, Sonya. 1992.
‘Caring for Kangaroos and Wallasbies’ - Williams Ray,
Ann. Kangaroo Press
‘A Gentle Method of Raising Orphaned Flying Foxes’-
Minogue, T. and Luckoff, H.
‘Hand-Rearing and Development of the Flying Fox’ –
Collins, Linda. 1995
‘Australian Bats’ – Churchill, Sue. Reed New
Holland, 1998
‘Care of Australian Reptiles in Captivity’ –
Weigel, John. Reptiles Keepers Assoc,1988/1993
Birds
‘Australian Bird Rehabilitation
Manual’ – Henderson, Norma
‘Australian Wild Bird Rescue’ – Henderson, Norma
‘Caring for Australian Native Birds’ – Parsons,
Heather. Kangaroo Press, 1999 .
‘Everybird: A Guide to Bird Health’ – McWhirter,
Pat. 1987, 1994
‘Field Guide to the Birds of Australia’ – Simpson
and Day. Viking O’Neil, 1993
‘The Graham Pizzey and Frank Knight Field Guide to the Birds
of Australia’ – Pizzey, G and Knight, F. Angus and
Robertson, 1997
‘The Nestbox Book’ - Grant, Jim. Gould League, 1997
‘The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds’ –
Slater, P and Slater, R. Weldon, 1992
Plants
‘Wildlife of Greater
Brisbane’ Queensland Museum.
‘Eucalyptus Forest Guide’ – Young, P, Plowman,
K, Houser, PJ 1998. Available from Brisbane Forest Park
‘Rainforest Guide’ – Young, P, Houser, PJ.,
et al., 1991. Available from Brisbane Forest Park
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