Swamp wallabies come in to care
The first Swamp wallaby came in as a result of a dog chase, the landowner
thought no harm would be done, the dog had a good run, the wallaby
got away. As we already know this is rarely the case, the mother will
often die due to Myopathy, and as in this
case the joey is dropped in mums haste to out run the dog.
The landowner saw
the joey drop from Mums pouch, he left it in the paddock thinking
mum would return for her joey. This rarely happens when a wallaby
has been chased, it will not return for fear of being caught. The joey was eventually retrieved
by the landowner, and it was consequently brought in to care, shocked,
but unharmed.
The second and third
joey arrived 6 weeks later one day apart, both being found by members
of the public on their morning walk. Both were found in dead mothers
pouches on the side of the road.Both wallabies had been dragged off
the road, unfortunately the driver forgot to check the pouch in both
instances, lucky for these little joey's, someone else did not.
As you can see these
joey's have made great friends, and all are doing well in care, currently
being fed 5 times a day and night, they come out of the pouch for
a very short time after each feed,then back in the pouch. They all
have separate pouches, but chose to share pouches, loving each others
company.
Animals such as these have a very close bond with their mother,
in care we can not afford for the joey's to bond too strongly to us,
so having a few joey's same age, allows them to create this bond with
each other. I find that this bond lasts all the way through till release,
and in most cases after release they will often stay together.
''Sammy'' our dog
chase swampy, is seen here 8 weeks after coming in to care, he now
spends quite a bit of time out of his pouch.
UPDATE January
2006
The Swamp wallaby
male seen in this image  is
now out of pouch permanently as is Sammy and the female. They have
all left their pouch early, I imagine due to not being able to fit
in one pouch any longer, they choose not to use separate pouches,
so stay out all together.
It will be some time yet before
they will be ready for the next step, the Pre-release pen.
UPDATE February
2006
Sammy is seen here to the right, with
some of his friends 5 months after coming in to care.
UPDATE March
2006 
The time has come for
Sammy and his 2 friends to go to the final stage of their time in
care. They will be transferred to the pre-release pen this week, and
from there they will be soft released in about 5 weeks time. Soft
release means they will be able to come and go from the pre release
pen at their leisure. The gate is opened, and left open until such
time as they no longer feel the need to come back. This time can vary
from one joey to the next, all depending on the personality on each
individual. We let them choose when they are ready to face the world
and life as a wild animal.
Sammy seen here with yet another
Swamp wallaby in care.
Sammy's friends ready to be transferred
to pre release with Sammy.
Images on this page by Sharon McGrigor
& Susanne Ulyatt
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