Mayors Message - October 2023
Posted on: 13.10.2023
G'Day Everyone,
Council and members of our community have unfortunately witnessed a significant increase in vehicle road strikes of wildlife across the Shire recently, particularly wombats, roos and koalas.
Local WIRES and Sydney Wildlife volunteers have reported that road kill numbers have almost doubled in August and September this year compared to last year, with deaths and injuries of native animals continuing to grow at an alarming rate.
This week I had the privilege of visiting the University of Sydney Wildlife Hospital at Brownlow Hill, where a group of veterinary care specialists are doing a great job of looking after our injured native animals. Along with the important work of our wildlife carer volunteers, this service provides some relief for our injured wildlife.
Ultimately though, if we want to solve this problem and stop the high numbers of animal deaths and injuries, we all need to get involved in looking after our Wollondilly wildlife and there’s a few simple things you can do to help. When you are driving, particularly in the evening and overnight, please slow down, stay alert and take care.
Please report any injured native animals you see and if you do unfortunately hit one of our native marsupials, make sure you know how to properly do a pouch check. It’s an important skill all our drivers should know because often a joey will survive their mother being hit, only to slowly starve to death because they are left in the pouch.
While Council has long been a strong advocate for our wildlife through initiatives such as our local Koala Conservation Project, we will be looking into what more can be done to try and address the increase in wildlife being killed across the shire including increased signage and an education campaign in the coming months. I will also be calling on the State Government to take urgent action to reduce impacts to wildlife on roads within the Wollondilly Shire, particularly on Appin and Picton Roads which are state-owned roads.
If you see an injured animal please call WIRES on 1300 094 737, Sydney Wildlife on 9413 4300 or Wildlife South Coast Rescue on 0418 427 214 or take the animal directly to the University Wildlife Hospital at 415 Werombi Road (open between 8.30am and 4.30pm, phone 4655 0798)
To help us advocate for our chlamydia-free koala population, you can report any koala sightings on Council's Koala Hotline Page .
Council will also be hosting a Wildlife First Aid course at the Robin Davies Nursery on 9 November. Click here to find out more and register.
Thank you
Mayor Matt Gould