Concerns highlighted over handling and rescuing animals

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A Tasmanian woman has landed herself in hospital and in extreme pain after attempting to rescue a platypus. The feisty creature spurred her hand yes platypuses have spurs venomous spurs on their hind legs.

Transcript

00:00 First of all, we have to say thank you to Jenny for even attempting to rescue it, because

00:06 we encourage everyone to help wildlife where they can.

00:09 So what people really need to do is, in doubt with any animal, always call your local wildlife

00:15 group or WISE and just check what you're approaching.

00:18 Because you have to remember, they see us as predators.

00:21 They don't see us as coming in to rescue them.

00:23 They see us as coming in to harm them.

00:25 So caution always.

00:26 Yeah, I guess Jenny thought that this platypus was a cuddly furry little thing and no chance

00:32 of having something like this happen.

00:34 So what are some other animals you might think are not too dangerous, but can give you a

00:38 nasty injury when you're trying to help?

00:40 Look, Joe, to be honest, they all look cute and cuddly, except the snakes, of course,

00:45 and probably the flying foxes.

00:48 But don't be fooled.

00:49 You know, we tell everybody.

00:51 They can all give you a nasty bite.

00:52 They are wild animals.

00:54 They can give you a nasty scratch as well.

00:56 So the ones we're particularly concerned about always is to treat every snake as if it could

01:02 be venomous.

01:03 Always stay away from flying foxes because they can carry the lissivirus.

01:07 And even though the percentage is quite low, there's still a risk that you can catch it.

01:12 We advise people to keep away from raptors because you can get a nasty claw mark from

01:18 them.

01:19 You can also get a nasty bite from them.

01:20 And in fact, even parrots, even lorikeets, when they're injured, they will give you a

01:24 nasty bite as well.

01:26 I think one of the worst ones is the little sugar gliders, which look terribly cute, but

01:31 they'll give you a bit of venom as well.

01:33 Right.

01:34 It sounds like that's happened to you.

01:35 So what general approach should you take when trying to do the right thing?

01:45 So always proceed with caution.

01:47 If you've got, if you're in an area where you can't get anybody to help you, we always

01:51 ask people if they can carry a towel or a blanket in the car, put the towel or the blanket

01:56 gently over the animal if it appears injured.

01:59 If you've hit a kangaroo or something that's larger, don't approach it because it can suddenly

02:04 jump up from whatever it is.

02:06 If it's injured and not killed, it can jump up and it can do you damage as well.

02:10 And just put the blanket over gently.

02:12 Get to the vet as quickly as you can, because just like humans, the sooner we get an animal

02:16 to a vet, the sooner the chance that they'll survive.

02:19 And John, we can just catch a glimpse of the sky behind you.

02:22 Looks like you've got a nice yard there.

02:24 What kind of animals have been active in your garden with the onset of spring?

02:29 Well, I'm pretty privileged when I'm here because I've got everything from endangered

02:34 species like the beach stone curlew is here, the kangaroos jump across the lawn here, there's

02:41 flying foxes, there's all sorts of migratory birds come to the mudflats behind me.

02:46 That looks a bit probably more glamorous than it actually is.

02:50 So yeah, very privileged here.

02:51 This neck of the woods get a lot of wildlife.

02:54 A nice spot for a wise guy.

02:55 OK, John, thanks so much for having a chat to us.

02:58 Thanks, Joe.

02:59 We appreciate it.

02:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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