Calls for new feature on Aussie roads after 'powerful' photo highlights sad crisis
A joey kangaroo left startled and injured on the side of the road while his mother lay dead metres away.
It's the scene a Victorian woman, Vicki, stumbled upon this past week and one that wildlife rescuers say is becoming increasingly common in the area as drought and habitat loss push kangaroo populations into danger. While a parliamentary inquiry is currently seeking to address the matter of wildlife road strikes, those on the ground say the problem is reaching "crisis point".
In this case, it's believed the driver who collided with the mother kangaroo failed to stop and alert authorities. It wasn't until Vicki arrived at the scene along Wellington Road, southeast of Melbourne, taking the above photo showing the distressed joey in the foreground, that the mother was finally euthanised.
"She just happened to be driving along the road and saw it," Sue Johnston, who runs a kangaroo rescue and rehab centre in the region, told Yahoo News on Sunday.
"The little baby was just sitting there, watching the traffic.
"It's a powerful, haunting photo."
A confluence of factors including drought and development is seeing a huge number of kangaroos struck by motorists along the busy stretch of road with rescuers urging drivers to do one simple thing – to at least make sure they stop and call for help.
"It is your legal responsibility under Section 61 of the Road Safety Act — you must stop and render assistance. I'm not asking you to rescue the kangaroo...stay away from it. Just make a simple phone call," Sue, who is well known in the local community, implored on social media on Friday when the joey was found.
Along with Vicki, fellow wildlife rescuer Lea Sultana routinely responds to vehicle strikes along Wellington Road, which snakes past the extensive bushland of Lysterfield Park.
"It's rife at the moment, it's absolutely horrendous," she told Yahoo News.
"In the last 15 months I've been tracking and recording all the data. In June alone, in a very small section – basically in that section of road where that joey was hit – 38 roos have died already just in June."
Lea uses the iNaturalist app to record the strikes with photos from each scene amounting to a grim catalogue showing the extent of the problem.
"This is the worst I've ever seen it. The numbers are absolutely staggering," she lamented.
"No one is calling them in, they're leaving the animals half dead."
While she is "fighting" for the wildlife populations, she believes the frequency of strikes is also putting drivers at serious risk. "It's only a matter of time, someone is going to get killed," she said.
An ongoing state parliamentary inquiry into wildlife road strikes in Victoria has seen more than 300 submissions in recent months. The wide ranging inquiry is examining everything from the volunteer networks that respond, as well as new and emerging technologies and infrastructure used to prevent road strikes and the overall impact on motorists including trauma and vehicle damage.
While public submissions have now closed, the inquiry has an online survey and today is the last day people can have their say. A final report to parliament is due by 30 November 2025.
Despite the government interest, it hasn't stopped people like Lea campaigning for more funding and effort to address the issue. She has even launched a petition, with nearly 3,000 signatures, specifically drawing attention to the frequency of fatal collisions on Wellington Road.
While the inquiry's remit includes technology-based prevention, rescuers on the ground say a lack of commitment to date has been the problem. At least that has been the case with virtual fencing. The 'fencing' sees roadside posts fitted with technology that is triggered by vehicle headlights, causing the posts to emit sound and light to deter animals from crossing the road at night into oncoming traffic.
Such virtual fencing was previously installed by VicRoads along Wellington Road but has since fallen into disrepair, rendering it useless.
Lea, who has lived in the area for some 15 years, said it was obvious how effective the fencing was.
"We had noticed straight away how much that reduced it... [but] they've just not been maintained over the years."
When she has pressed local MPs and state government departments on why the fencing hasn't been maintained she is invariably told it is simply too expensive.
Sue is also calling for the fencing to receive greater support.
"All the sensors [along Wellington Road] are now broken. I've been trying to push for the council or VicRoads to change them, but no one wants anything to do with it," she told Yahoo.
When done right, it works, she said, pointing to virtual fencing established along the western and southern parts of Lysterfield Park by the City of Casey years ago.
"When Casey put in the first 1km along a little stretch near me, we were rescuing 83 kangaroos a year on average along that 1km stretch of road, and when the virtual fencing went it, it dropped down to 12.
"It was amazing."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Identity of man's body in river solved
An unknown man whose remains were found in a river on the Sunshine Coast more than a year ago has been identified as Victorian man Alexander Marinis. On November 30 2023, about 8am, members of the public were walking down the Maroochy River when they saw the body of a man floating in the water under the Talep Bridge. Police were called to the scene and deemed the death as non-suspicious. A year-and-a-half after the man's remains were located, his identity remained unknown – until now. On Monday, Queensland Police confirmed the identity of the man as Alexander Marinis, 47, from Yarram in Victoria. He did not have any identification documents or a wallet at the time of his death. The man had no identifiable markers such as tattoos, dental implants or piercings. Police divers searched the river for any clues leading to the man's identity. On the bank of the river, police discovered some of the man's belongings, including a water bottle, jacket, shoes, an ATP-branded backpack and a receipt for a purchase made at a Bunnings three days before his remains were found. CCTV footage revealed the man purchased items at the hardware shop using a brown wallet that was not recovered at the scene. Police confirmed the man's identity was confirmed after a Centrelink staff member recognised his face from an ABC article. 'Great lengths were taken to identify the man over this period: door knocking, DNA testing, some work with Interpol around some surgical artefacts in the man's knee, which resulted in worldwide inquiries,' Queensland Police Detective Senior Sergeant Robert Lowry told reporters. 'The final piece of the puzzle was the DNA from the family, which led to a positive identification of the male.' The man's death has been deemed non-suspicious, and the 47-year-old's remains were returned to his family. Detective Yowry thanked those who assisted in the search to identify Mr Marinis. 'I sincerely thank the media and the public for their assistance in this investigation,' he said. 'A person, who had previously dealt with the man in a professional capacity in Maroochydore, recognised the man after seeing an appeal on the news and contacted police to share the information. 'This information led us to being able to confirm his identify through DNA testing and contact the man's family. 'I also want to thank the detectives that worked on this investigation with such perseverance and tenacity.' His mother Maree Bergamo said she learnt of her son's death on February 13, about 14 months after his remains were found in the river. She said her son was an 'intelligent, decent and loyal person' who frequently preferred to be on his own. She explained that he cut himself off from family, prompting her to hire a private investigator to track him down. He moved to Queensland and died a few weeks later. He was laid to rest in a private funeral last month, police said. 'Alex was a loner, sadly,' Ms Bergamo said at his funeral, per the ABC. 'Alex will always be remembered as a kind, decent and law-abiding person. 'He was a non-drinker and non-smoker. Alex was always loved and adored by my family. 'It's tragic that he didn't seek help.' Lifeline 13 11 14 Suicide call back service 1300 659 467 Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36 Mensline Australia 1300 78 99 78 Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 1800 Respect 1800 737 732 13YARN 13 92 76 (For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
A jury is deciding the fate of an Australian woman accused of 3 murders by mushroom poisoning
MORWELL, Australia (AP) — A jury in Australia began deliberations Monday in the triple murder trial of Erin Patterson, accused of killing her estranged husband's relatives by deliberately serving them poisonous mushrooms for lunch. Three of Patterson's four lunch guests — her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson — died in the hospital after the 2023 meal at her home in Leongatha, at which she served individual beef Wellington pastries containing death cap mushrooms. She is accused of attempting to murder the fourth, Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, who was gravely ill but survived. During the nine-week Supreme Court trial in the state of Victoria, Patterson gave evidence in her own defense. The 50-year-old mother of two faces life in prison if convicted.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Major change to speed cameras in one state
Drivers across one Aussie state will be forced to exercise further caution while driving on two major stretches of highway after state-government approved changes to speed camera functions come into effect on Tuesday. The NSW Minns Labor Government announced on Monday both light and heavy vehicles would receive penalties for speeding at two sites on two major NSW highways as part of a trial which has expanded the ability for standard traffic cameras to ping speeding light vehicles for the first time. Until recently, 'average speed' cameras have only been used in NSW to detect the speeds of heavy vehicles like buses and semi-trailers, but this will expand on Tuesday to fall in line with the procedures of every other state and territory and include small vehicles like cars and bikes. The trial cameras are located on the Pacific and Hume highways in regional NSW, which disproportionately bears two thirds of the state road toll despite being home to a third of the population. In the first week of the two month 'warning period' in which drivers would be formally cautioned rather than fined, one in every 122 cars and motorbikes were detected speeding on the Pacific and Hume Highways. Drivers were still fined occasionally during this period, but only if they were caught exceeding the speed limit by over 30km/hr. By the end of the seventh week, there was a notable increase in improved behaviour, with recorded speeding light vehicles dropping to one in every 235 on the Pacific Highway and one in every 194 on the Hume. Minister for Roads and Regional Transport Jenny Aitchison said the severity of the road toll has been – and remains – a major point of focus for the Minns Labor Government. 'Speeding contributes to around 42 per cent of road fatalities every year and so far this year, speeding has contributed to 33 per cent of all road fatalities. That's 59 lives lost due to dangerous driving, just this year,' Ms Aitchison said. 'Last year we committed to investigate ways to lower road trauma at our Road Safety Forum, including trialling the use of average speed cameras for light vehicles.' 'NSW is the only jurisdiction that has limited the use of average speed cameras to heavy vehicles, creating confusion across border communities and establishing a different standard for drivers.' The trial will continue for another 12 months, and all drivers caught speeding at the test locations will receive penalties during that period. Transport NSW keeps a running tally of annual road fatalities, which as of June 30 2025 is 182 – almost 30 more than the same time last year.
