Bulletin 28 - The Wombat Protection Society of Australia

Transcription

Wombat Protection Society of Australia Bulletin 28 February 2010
P.O. Box 6045 N.S.W. 2550 info@wombatprotection.org.au
Welcome to Bulletin 28
The Society receives some really interesting and
heartwarming letters from members and people interested in
wombats. Often they get sent off to whoever is managing the
particular issue being discussed- the mange co-odinators if
mange is being asked about, the various volunteer vets and
animals experts when an illness is being discussed..so often
the interesting reflections of people working at the burrow
front aren't shared. In recogniition of our members and their
concerns for wombats this bulletin gives “voice” to a number
and variety of members letters.
CHARLEY, the Peter Pan Wombat
We’re writing this letter in the hope that someone will have
encountered a similar problem in a human-raised wombat before.
And if not that, then we think we should document Charley’s
journey publicly and regularly so that it stands as stimulus for
learning. If it has happened to a wombat carer once, it stands to
reason it has already happened before, or will again.
We’ve been raising wombats for several years now, on our property
near Jenolan Caves in NSW. Charley is number eight of nine. We’ve
lost three, one to attack by animal unknown (after release), one to
a catastrophic bowell event (about 7 months old), and one to snake
bite at twelve months. The rest have been successfully soft-released
onto our property. We see them frequently, but they seem to be
living successful wild lives (except when feeling a bit sooky). Three
months after finding Charley another little male (Nicky) was brought
to us who would probably have been about a month older than
Charley, based on developmental evidence. Nicky was to have been
the ideal buddy for Charley. We’ve been lucky enough to have been
able to raise most of our babies in pairs, and one threesome, who
all went out into the wild together.
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Charley was rescued from his mother’s pouch on Sunday 7th
June 2009. He was still attached to the teat and had no hair
whatsoever. He weighed 290gms and appeared to have no
injuries. It took some time to get him to take a bottle, as it
has done with all but one little glutton we’ve raised, but he
appeared to settle down to Divetelact quite well, taking about
50 mls a day. He put on the weight he initially lost fairly
quickly and was 340 gms after a month.. He was also
successfully treated for oral thrush with Nilstat. He was taken
to a vet but no worms or other health problems were found.
He still had no hair at all.
Over the next three months Charley progressed regularly if
slowly…8/08/200 - 500grms: 05/09/2009 – 780gms;
03/10/2009 – 910gms. At the end of October Nicky weighed
4.3 kgs.
Charley was beginning to get some
very fine fluff on his head that was
and still is not typical of wombat
hair. A fully furred wombat baby
looks like a small adult wombat in
terms of fur. Charley’s hair was
making him look like a little tiny
Einstein. It stands on end when
first through.
Over summer so far we’ve had
some horribly hot weather, and in the heat neither baby is
much interested in his bottle until the cool of the evening.
Nicky is a normal, active, baby wombat, so much bigger and
stronger than Charley that there is no way they can be
buddies. They have adjoining playpens, but we can’t let them
be together because Nicky is so much bigger and
stronger.Charley seems too fragile to be a proper participant in
happy hour play.
Becoming increasingly concerned about his lack of weight gain
and general peculiar appearance we returned to the vet, who
found no obvious problems. She suggested it could be a case
of a malfunctioning pituitary gland and that Charley may never
grow normally. We have asked if we could have a test, only to
have the obvious problem pointed out to us that there is no
chart of normal pituitary readings for wombats that we could
compare Charley’s reading to. It also appears to be fairly
expensive to have done. Then comes the question of what will
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we do about it if he is found to have a pituitary, or other
glandular, problem? Do we give him growth hormones? We
wpould have all sorts of concerns with that. The vet feels that
this sort of thing probably happens more frequently than we
know. The baby would normally not make it through the first
winter in the wild and would be ejected from the pouch.
It was suggested that he should be weaned, or at least placed
on a different milk substitute. Nicky was already on solids, so
we let Charley start on rolled oats and sweet potato as well,
and we switched him to Womberoo.® No real gain has so far
come of this change, except that he is now much less willing
to have his bottle at all. He is back to taking about 50 mls a
day, and that only if you walk the floor with him while he
drinks! Weights at this point were 7/11/2009 –1.12kgms,
5/12/2009 – 1.35gms. Abnormally hot weather has interfered
with the appetite of both boys. Charley’s weight for December
has remained static.Nicky weighs 6.01 kgs .Charley weighs
1.36 kgms. Bear in mind that there cannot be more than a
month’s difference in chronological age between these two,
unless Charley’s lack of growth began in the pouch, before he
came to us, and he is actually even older than Nicky.
Charley is a happy but distinctly peculiar little wombat. His
fur, what there is of it (it is very sparse still, especially across
his hindquarters) is very soft and about 5mm long. His
movements are fragile and somewhat shaky, a bit like the first
attempts at play of a normal baby wombat. But Charley is at
least 11 months old now. Although his movements look fragile,
he has a lot of fun and is a very happy, alert and inquisitive
little person. He is delighted when he is picked up, loves kisses
on his nose, bites like the dickens whenever possible and
snuggles into the sleeve of my jacket. He doesn’t vocalize, but
nor does Nicky, and nor did Sam, the older male we raised.
We’ve noticed that the females we’ve raised vocalize more
than the males, and even after release still call to us. Has
anyone else noticed this, or have we just had very shy boys?
Charley’s feet are still pink soled, while Nicky’s are quite dark
now. His nose is dark, but was actually half dark when we
found him. Both sets of incisors are well developed (!) but
molars are only just staring to develop.
What can become of Charley? The vet suggests that he will
never be able to be released. Certainly if he remains as far
behind the growth curves as he presently is, there’s no way he
could compete as a male in a forest area fairly densely
populated by wild wombats. Then can he be kept, like a toy
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dog breed, in the house? Will he develop sexually? If so, how
does a male wombat, no matter how small, get on with his
human family in a house forever? He is so small now that he
can be held in one hand and trodden on with alarming ease.
Should he be caged for the rest of his life? That is probably
what would have to happen, and even though we plan to build
him a beautiful bachelor pad, it is not the ideal wombat future
we envisage for all our babies. He will be lonely. The only
other option is to euthanase him, and that is totally abhorrent
to us by this time. As long as he is happy and well we cannot
justify that action. Then we have to consider that whatever is
retarding his development might also be causing other health
problems to be revealed as he matures…I nearly said
"grows"…Charley doesn’t do growing!
As you can see, we need some advice and some expert
opinions. We are sending copies of this letter to the various
zoos and wildlife vets, in the hope that someone might be
interested in learning a bit more about wombats from one who
went wrong, so to speak. In the absence of further advice we
are about to try both boys on a porridge made from rolled oats
cooked in Divet, and sweetened with some Manuka honey to
up the calorie count. We would be happy to keep readers up to
date with our little "Peter Pan" Charley, either in this format or
by private email. There must be something we can learn from
this strange little fellow.
7000
6000
5000
4000
Charley
Nicky
Matilda
3000
2000
1000
0
August
June
December
October
We have plotted Charley's development (green) against Nicky's (Blue) and
that of another wombat for whom we had growth data, Matilda. Matilda
was of a similar size to Charley when she came into care.
David received some interesting replies to his letter and we include
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two of these. “ What you have described is consistent with pituitary
dwarfism. You can look up any medical text to read up on the
condition which commonly occurs in people and animals. I do not
think that treatment is practical or cost effective. However, to look
on the bright side one of the problems with wombats is that they
become a bit large to make convenient pets. If you end up with a
pocket rocket then you are in luck in so far as Charley will be more
manageable as a pet. I agree with you that release back into a wild
situation would probably be nothing more than a death sentence.
If not pituitary dwarfism then your next best probability would be
malnutrition. This could be either due to the milk substitute you are
using being unsatisfactory, or the actual volume of milk consumed
to be insufficient for normal growth or some abnormality related to
Charley's gut. You may wish to increase the volume of feeds by
force feeding with a stomach tube. If you go this route then beware
of overloading Charley's stomach - you will see colicky pain like
reproach in his eyes if you do. Also Charley will probably hate the
procedure but spare the stomach tube and spoil the child. Dog or
cat urinary catheters make good stomach tubes. Pass the tube
nasally,palpate it in the oesophagus and use a syringe to inject the
milk formulae down the tube. Good luck.
If not malnutrition then you may be looking at chronic disease
involving various body organs.No real problem in identifying
abnormalities if you have a Rockefeller type bank account to pay for
umpteen dozen tests. Not a recommended route.”
Mike
Another reply David received about the possible causes for
Charley's small ;stature
“I have seen this happen before and previously considered two
possible causes.
First, in both instances the juvenile animals were found on the
Brown Mountain escarpment east of Nimmitabel. Both were unfurred but had pigmentation suggesting subcutaneous fur growth.
In both cases the adult female wombats involved had sustained
violent, fatal injuries. Both of the
juveniles were still attached to the nipples of the dead mothers. My
thoughts after watching them subsequently develop was that this
might have involved an underlying genetically-determined alopecia,
perhaps localised to this particular region.
Or second, the violence of the traumas involved in the mothers'
deaths and the fact that the juveniles were still attached to the
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nipple may have led to simultaneous trauma in the juveniles. A
possible trigger for their developmental abnormalities could be
some underlying brain trauma that effected developmental growth
of the pituitary gland which limited androgenic development. This
could have happened as a result of a whiplash-like reaction that
involved hyperextension of the cranium.
Despite their peculiar features, both juveniles went on to become
adult size. One was treated intramuscularly with stanabolic (an
anabolic manufactured in Australia by Ilium).
This animal, a female, developed unusual behavioural traits
suggestive of possibly abnormal gonadal development and
hyperaggression. Only minor
follicular development occurred and treatment was ceased.
Not sure if this helps, but it's my only experience with wombats
exhibiting symptoms of this kind.”
Brett
Animal Justice Party
http://animaljusticeparty.org
A group in N.S.W. is atempting to establish a political party called
the Animal Justice Party.
"Over the coming months we aim to establish the AJP as a means to
pursue issues of animal protection through the Australian
Parliamentary System by encouraging the adoption of animal
friendly policies by other political parties, demonstrating that voters
care about animal issues by contesting elections, and educating the
electorate about the animal policies of candidates from other
political parties.
One of our Directors answered a query from another member about
the group working on this ; “I know some of the people who are
starting up the Animal Justice Party, they are all dedicated wildlife
carers or people who feel deeply about our wildlife, these people are
well educated & are already very into the political arena. NSW
needs a group that can stand up against the shooters Party who
now have 3 members of parliament & who received 3 million dollars
government funding last year, the Shooters Party are the same
people who are pressing the NSW State government to allow
shooting in national parks & not just feral animals but Kangaroos,
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birds, ducks and anything that moves. I have joined the party & will
be encouraging all my wildlife friends to do the same. The wildlife of
NSW (and Australia) do need a political voice.
Shirley Lack
N.S.W. Road Kill Mitigation Researcher Needs Help
Natalie Crook from University of New England is studying wombat
road kill. Those of you who live in wombat areas will be aware that
an horrific toll is taken on generally very healthy wombats by cars
and trucks. Natalie wants to gather data on wombat mortality due
to road kill based on: Date, Location, Sex and any comments. She
explained that “this will allow me to compare it with my dataset and
I can compare my study site to other areas around NSW.” To help
Natalie we created a wombat road deaths google map . Members
who have information about any particular area in N.S.W. can enter
data on this map. Contact research@wombatprotection.org.au to be
entered as a collaborator. For further information on Natalie's
research; ncrook@une.edu.au
Papers In Press
This paper has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication but
is still in production. It has not been edited or formatted, so may
differ from the final published form.
Using camera-trap data to model habitat use by bare - nosed
wombats (Vombatus ursinus) and cattle (Bos taurus) in a
southeastern Australian agricultural riparian ecosystem
Philip Borchard, Ian Wright
Abstract
Bare-nosed wombats (Vombatus ursinus) are an often important
south east Australian agricultural riparian species which may
improve riparian landscape heterogeneity via their burrowing
activity. At the same time they are often accused of causing soil
erosion. As populations of wombats in other landscapes are under
threat due to habitat disturbance, road mortality and disease,
knowledge of the factors determining their use of riparian systems
are important for their conservation and management. Since the
European colonization of Australia, riparian areas have been utilized
by domestic cattle (Bos taurus) usually resulting in a decline in
biodiversity. Camera - trap data was used to investigate the habitat
use by wombats and cattle in remnant Eastern Riverine Forests. A
total of 664 detections of animals from 13 species were made over
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the entire riparian zone survey. Wombats were the most detected
species, followed by cattle then foxes and cats. Wombat and cattle
activity varied significantly through the diurnal cycle with wombats
active from 1900 h to 0700 h and cattle active from 0700 h to 1900
h. There were no seasonal effects relating to the detection of either
species. Feral species such as foxes, cats and rabbits were more
frequently detected at sites highly disturbed by cattle. Results of
this study illustrate the potential of camera - trapping for modelling
habitat use by wombats and cattle and providing guidelines for the
management of feral animals in remnant agricultural riparian
habitats.
http://www.publish.csiro.au/view/journals/dsp_journals_pip_ab
stract.cfm?nid=257&ver=2&pip=AM09010
One of our members has been trialing a remote camera
specifically for identifying individual wombats and is working on
issues related to wombat burrow use. A full report will be
available in the next Bulletin. They have already used the
camera successfully to tell whether burrows are used or empty,
the time wombats are passing through particular areas and to
prove rabbits and lyrebirds, not wombats were responsible for
holes in lawns. In addition they hope to demonstrate such
cameras can be used to monitor the health of wombats in
areas where mange is present.The Society is hoping to
purchase a number of these cameras (cost approximately
$500.00) for members to use. Initially we will encourage
groups to raise enough money to donate to the society (a tax
deduction is therefore available to groups or individuals) who
will be given a camera for their use. Another member, David
Barratt is experimenting with micro cameras to use as remote
monitors in bushland settings which feed back to in house
video recording systems.While this is already available it is very
costly and David's intent is to develop a multiple monitoring
system coverning numerous sites for under $500.00 simple
enough for non technical folk to set up and install.
Wildlife Survey
The N.SW. Department of Environment and Climate Change
has an on line survey covering numerous Australia animals
including wombats. For people wising to complete the survey
go to
www.environment.nsw.au/surveys/StatewideWildlifeSurvey
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In Bulletin 26 we heard from
Tony Hastings, resident
naturalist at Manna Park on the
Far South Coast of N.S.W.. Late
last year Tony contacted the
Society and started treating one
particular wombat with Cydectin
following a period of trialing
Paramectin alone. (see Bulletin
26 for full story)
Early September 09
20th and 25th September
5th January 2010
and YES, it is the same wombat! Colour differences due to light.
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It was also lovely to hear from Dailin and Chantelle's grandmother
who joined the Society last year. They sent anther donation telling
us our “wombat money tin” is full again so we are sending you its
contents. We also found an extensive article on Wombats in (an
Australian) Geographic magazine, so we have read it and placed it
in our Wombat file”. L. Grose. Western Australia.
Charlie Schroeder and family also joined last year writing “ my
partner is a wildlife carer and we live in the Omeo Swifts Creek
region of Victoria, where we have a problem in the wild wombat
population. Many are badly infested with Sarcoptic Mange.” Charlie
describes the frustration of rearing and releasing a wombat “ only to
find that he contracted mange”. They have decided to try and “clean
up the problem in the local wombat population” so we can “ safely
return our rescued and orphan babies to their wild heritage”. Charlie
Schroeder . Victoria.
The Society has again begun mapping mange reports for 2010 and
begun a new google map for this purpose as the previous one,
covering 2006-2009 was getting a bit full. These maps can be
collated so patterns over years can still be seen. Please contact
research@wombatprotection.org.au to report sightings of mange
and if you would like to become a collaborator and enter mange
sightings on this map this can be arranged.
Australian Animal Welfare Strategy
The Australian Federal Government is developing an animal welfare
strategy which covers all animals. It has been “developed to provide
the national and international
communities with an
appreciation of animal welfare
arrangements in Australia and
to otline future directions in
Animal Welfare. This will be
known as the AAWS and yu
can download copies of the
paper from
animalwelfare@daff.gov.au or
write to G.P.O. Box 858
Canberra ACT 2601. “The
strategy covers the care, uses
and direct and indirect impacts of human activity on all sentient
species of animals in Australia”. The strategy includes native
animals.
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Audit and AGM
As a Public Company and registered charity,the Society undergoes a
full audit each year. We thank Kothes, the Society's auditors for the
following report. The AGM will be held on Sunday March 14th 2010.
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MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL FINAL REMINDER
Would all members please note that your membership needs to be
renewed if you intend to vote on any matter at the AGM. Thank-you
to all those members who have renewed and particularly to those
who have updated their contact details.
If you usually receive your bulletins by email and are receiving this
one via post, it is because we have had your email returned.Would
you please complete the last page of the Bulletin indicating any
changes to your contact details.Thanks.
The AGM will be held on March 14th 2010 so please ensure your
details are up to date. Your membership and continued support is
vital and demonstrates concern and interest across a wide range of
areas. Your membership allows the Society to continue as a Charity,
which means we can use donations to directly help wombats.It
means groups wanting to gain funding to help wombats can do so
using the Society as an auspice. It means individual carers and
sanctuaries can gain a donor base to assist in their work.
As a member, You have been instrumental in helping us help
wombats, particularly by providing mange treatment kits to people
who have been willing and able to treat wombats for mange. You
have, through your membership allowed concerns about the culling
of wombats and habitat loss to be discussed at various levels of
government. You have also allowed and some of you have been
directly involved in providing information and advice about
wombats, to many hundreds of people, whether the school child
wanting to know something for a project, or the landholder wanting
to know how to manage fences and wombats.
The Society's philosophy continues to be to work to resolve
problems and to educate about wombats, to help individual
wombats and wombats
as a species and to
support those who do.
So feel proud of what
your membership and
support has achieved,
and continue to be one
of the "us" in helping
us help wombats.
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Membership Renewal
Would all members please ensure their membership is up to date prior to the
Annual General Meeting scheduled for March 2010. It would be helpful if
members complete and return the information below so the Society's records
can be updated.
Name(s) ______________________________________________________
Address _______________________________________________________
Email Address __________________________________________________
Telephone Number(s) ____________________________________________
Birth DAY and MONTH (for cards, optional)____________________________
Would you be interested in assisting the work of the Society? Please indicate
whether you are interested in any of the following ways of helping and add
any others you may be able to do;
__Editing Newsletters
__Making telephone calls
__Giving advice to members of the public re wombats
__Being a contact on our get help for wombats program
__Becoming a member of the board
__Undertaking a role such as secretary, public officer, accounting
__Making up mange prevention kits
__Undertaking internet research
__Project liason (connects you to a particular project)
Other;
Membership fees for 2010 are $20.00 per year per adult by email contact and
$25.00 for snail mail, $10.00 and $15.00 respectively for children and $30.00
and $35.00 for families. Cheques should be made out to the Wombat
Protection Society, direct deposits to the Operating Account can be made ;
BSB 802124 account 77328 Wombat Protection Society of Australia.
Pay Pal deposits can be made on site www.wombatprotection.org.au. Please
ensure if you are using pay pal or direct deposit that you indicate who you are
and what your deposit is for.
Members who joined in 2009 do not need to renew until 2011. Hon. members
and Directors do not need to renew but please upate your contact details if
these have changed.
Not a member yet? You can complete this form and become one. Indicate
below if you are newly joining. New Member ________
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Bulletin 28 - The Wombat Protection Society of Australia

Transcription

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