Wildlife rescue centres in WA's outback close due to lack of funding
Nestled in an outback town in the Kimberley, Derby Native Wildlife has rehabilitated various native wildlife from flying foxes to crocodiles.
Meanwhile Lisa's Kangaroo Retreat, in the Pilbara town of Port Hedland, has been caring for injured kangaroos and drawing in tourists for nearly two decades.
Now both these rescue, rehabilitation and release centres are closing, citing rising costs and little support in the face of growing demand, in a trend reflected across the state.
The decision to close Derby Native Wildlife has plagued owner Heidi Sampey, keeping her awake at night as she worries about the fate of local wildlife.
But Ms Sampey said the 24/7 job has taken an emotional, physical and financial toll which she could no longer sustain.
"It's not a decision I've taken easily, it's been a lot of heartfelt thinking and my major concern is what's going to happen to the animals found from now?" she said.
Ms Sampey has been running the non-profit centre with the help of her partner, Ray Sampey, for over a decade.
It was financed in part through donations and grants, but primarily paid for out of Ms Sampey's own pocket.
"I love it but I just can't keep doing it by myself and without financial help. I can't keep money pouring in out of my own pockets," she said.
The sanctuary released about 100 rehabilitated animals a year and Ms Sampey said operating costs were a couple of thousand dollars a month, including veterinary bills, food and transport.
"There's no government funding unfortunately, we're on our own even though we're licensed through Parks and Wildlife … still financially we're responsible for everything," she said.
Rescue centres are often a safe haven when tourists and locals find injured animals on the outback's vast roads.
The closest sanctuary once Ms Sampey closes will be over 200 kilometres to the west in Broome and over 900km to the east in Kununurra.
Ms Sampey said she planned to close in phases, in the hope someone might put up their hand to take over.
Lisa Rose, in Port Hedland, has released 906 joeys and kangaroos since starting her centre 18 years ago, and is known locally as the "roo lady".
"I shouldn't have to beg, borrow and plead for money that belongs to the community," she said.
"They should just be giving it to me, I'm looking after their wildlife."
Ms Rose said it cost $1.2 million a year to run the centre, three-quarters of which was funded through her cleaning company.
Despite the financial struggle, she said the decision to close the centre was incredibly difficult and had been five years in the making.
She said she would be "one big sad mess" when the centre's front sign came down.
Animals currently in care at Derby Native Wildlife and Lisa's Kangaroo Retreat will either be released or transferred to the few remaining sanctuaries in WA's far north.
In a statement, the WA government said it valued the work of wildlife rehabilitators and would continue to support grant applications.
"Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions staff can assist with triage and prioritisation of fauna to appropriate facilities and people," the statement said.
"The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions does not employ staff to collect and rehabilitate native fauna and is greatly appreciative of the great work fauna rehabilitators do."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
Wildlife rescue centres in WA's outback close due to lack of funding
Two wildlife sanctuaries in Western Australia's far north are set to close, sparking concerns about how injured and orphaned animals will be cared for. Nestled in an outback town in the Kimberley, Derby Native Wildlife has rehabilitated various native wildlife from flying foxes to crocodiles. Meanwhile Lisa's Kangaroo Retreat, in the Pilbara town of Port Hedland, has been caring for injured kangaroos and drawing in tourists for nearly two decades. Now both these rescue, rehabilitation and release centres are closing, citing rising costs and little support in the face of growing demand, in a trend reflected across the state. The decision to close Derby Native Wildlife has plagued owner Heidi Sampey, keeping her awake at night as she worries about the fate of local wildlife. But Ms Sampey said the 24/7 job has taken an emotional, physical and financial toll which she could no longer sustain. "It's not a decision I've taken easily, it's been a lot of heartfelt thinking and my major concern is what's going to happen to the animals found from now?" she said. Ms Sampey has been running the non-profit centre with the help of her partner, Ray Sampey, for over a decade. It was financed in part through donations and grants, but primarily paid for out of Ms Sampey's own pocket. "I love it but I just can't keep doing it by myself and without financial help. I can't keep money pouring in out of my own pockets," she said. The sanctuary released about 100 rehabilitated animals a year and Ms Sampey said operating costs were a couple of thousand dollars a month, including veterinary bills, food and transport. "There's no government funding unfortunately, we're on our own even though we're licensed through Parks and Wildlife … still financially we're responsible for everything," she said. Rescue centres are often a safe haven when tourists and locals find injured animals on the outback's vast roads. The closest sanctuary once Ms Sampey closes will be over 200 kilometres to the west in Broome and over 900km to the east in Kununurra. Ms Sampey said she planned to close in phases, in the hope someone might put up their hand to take over. Lisa Rose, in Port Hedland, has released 906 joeys and kangaroos since starting her centre 18 years ago, and is known locally as the "roo lady". "I shouldn't have to beg, borrow and plead for money that belongs to the community," she said. "They should just be giving it to me, I'm looking after their wildlife." Ms Rose said it cost $1.2 million a year to run the centre, three-quarters of which was funded through her cleaning company. Despite the financial struggle, she said the decision to close the centre was incredibly difficult and had been five years in the making. She said she would be "one big sad mess" when the centre's front sign came down. Animals currently in care at Derby Native Wildlife and Lisa's Kangaroo Retreat will either be released or transferred to the few remaining sanctuaries in WA's far north. In a statement, the WA government said it valued the work of wildlife rehabilitators and would continue to support grant applications. "Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions staff can assist with triage and prioritisation of fauna to appropriate facilities and people," the statement said. "The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions does not employ staff to collect and rehabilitate native fauna and is greatly appreciative of the great work fauna rehabilitators do."
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
RSPCA, farmers unite in criticism of WA's 'grey' animal cruelty laws
Farmers and experts say Western Australia's animal welfare laws are no longer fit for purpose, leaving residents exposed to surprising legal risks. The state's Animal Welfare Act provides the framework for the care and welfare of animals, as well as defining various forms of cruelty. But experts say the laws, and the regulations that underpin them, are "too broad". RSPCA WA chief executive Ben Cave said it was often difficult to draw the line between a humane killing and animal cruelty. He said he was waiting for recommendations from a 2019 independent review of the act to be implemented and the law needed to be modernised. Teresa Collins, from Murdoch University's School of Veterinary Science, said the laws failed to take WA's diverse environment into account. "The same legislation needs to cover the management of rangeland cattle that hardly see humans up in our northern areas of WA, compared to the management of dairy cows and mainstream beef systems in our South West," she said. Thousands of kangaroos are hit by cars on roads every year and motorists are often unsure of what to do when an animal is injured. Professor Collins said the law provided little support or structure for what an individual — who may never have encountered an animal, let alone euthanased one — is meant to do in this situation. In a statement, WA's Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions said: "The best thing to do if you encounter displaced or injured native wildlife is to call the Wildcare Helpline on (08) 9474 9055." DBCA said the helpline gave advice on dealing with the animal and who to contact for assistance, including people with the authority to carry out euthanasia. When the ABC called the Wildcare Helpline at 5:30pm on a Thursday, a recorded message said there was a shortage of volunteers to take calls and directed callers to a website containing a list of wildlife organisations. "Science would say [the injured animal] needs to be humanely destroyed as soon as possible, but if you have no implement or you have no firearm on you or you don't have a licence to use one, then you would have to seek the help of someone," Professor Collins said. "Very small animals can be potentially humanely destroyed by blunt trauma, but that's not likely to be the case in kangaroos of reasonable weight. "It's a really challenging scenario because you would think that there would be some person available to assist within a reasonable time." Native wildlife is protected under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 which is enforced by DBCA but also sits under the Animal Welfare Act which is enforced by the RSPCA. The varying way the laws can be applied was evident in two recent high-profile cases. Last month, three men in the Goldfields were fined a total of nearly $130,000 for animal cruelty offences after bludgeoning a pigeon with a golf club multiple times. Last year Mid West livestock farmer Calvin Royce found eight of his young calves dead or dying after they were deliberately run over in a paddock by an intoxicated driver. The driver of the vehicle was jailed but was eligible for parole after two months. "It doesn't sit right with me," Mr Royce said. "It's a pigeon; they got the maximum fine for a pigeon. "I'm not condoning cruelty to any animal, a pigeon, a cow or whatever, but I think there is a big difference between killing some pretty innocent calves and killing a pigeon." WA Farmers president Steve McGuire said the term cruelty was open to individual interpretation based on a person's personal experience and knowledge. "What I might think is cruel, you might not. Putting that subjective term into law becomes problematic," he said. Mr McGuire said this was problematic in a legal setting, with officials only having two options under WA law: prosecute or do nothing. "If you go into a courtroom, you're dealing with a judge or prosecutor who [probably] don't have an agricultural background," he said. "We have a general population that is so far removed from agriculture, their knowledge is a vacuum." The RSPCA's Ben Cave said it was unlikely a farmer humanely euthanasing an injured animal would ever face prosecution. "Although I can't guarantee that because every prosecution is based on fact and context," he said. "Something that is simply not acceptable when a vet clinic might be 500 metres away may be acceptable in a different context where a vet clinic is 500 kilometres away." Professor Collins said producers needed better support and education to meet society's animal welfare expectations. But she said the general public also needed a better understanding and appreciation of food production. "Farmers are asked to be innovative to adopt the changes that science is suggesting, yet they still need to be profitable," she said. "The Australian public is very concerned about the care and treatment of animals and livestock, but there isn't a necessary increased willingness to pay by those same people to have their food produced in that manner. "Society often doesn't see the link between the changes they're asking from our producers and then not wanting to pay more for any changes made."
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Government fails to protect dozens of WA threatened ecological communities
More than two thirds of Western Australia's threatened ecological communities (TECs) are ineffectively monitored and protected, with an auditor general's inquiry exposing the state's failure to act under its own conservation laws. The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) has made little progress in monitoring or protecting 72 per cent of TECs, according to the report by Auditor General Caroline Spencer. Recovery plans were either interim or outdated, with none approved by the environment minister. The report also found it would take more than a century, at the current rate, to assess 390 at-risk communities identified as potentially threatened. It said 60 of the communities awaiting assessment were in the Kimberley. Ms Spencer said DCBA lacked the resources and planning to meet its obligations. She found the department did not have a TEC strategy, and it was unclear if current activities aligned with long-term conservation goals. The WA Biodiversity Conservation Act was passed in 2016, coming into effect with regulations in 2019. It allowed the environment minister to list a species or ecological community as threatened. There have been 65 threatened ecological communities listed across the state. Environs Kimberley executive director Martin Pritchard said the government was not prioritising the environment. "It's so disappointing the government is choosing not to fund the proper management of these threatened ecological communities to make sure they survive," he said. "This means we don't know what's happening to these environments. "Are they being severely impacted by cattle? Is climate change impacting them? Is the extraction of ground water a major threat to them?" Mr Pritchard said he was "shocked" part of the $2.4 billion operating surplus for 2024-25 could not be used to fund ecological protection. The Montane Heath and Thicket of the Eastern Stirling Range are listed as critically endangered on the state's south coast. University of Western Australia botanist Stephen Hopper said it was time to protect "wonderful natural heritage assets". "It's simply going to decline and get worse, and that is not just a local problem, it's a national and international challenge," Professor Hopper said. He blamed low state and federal government funding, in part, for limiting the DCBA's ability to effectively do its job. "There are well-meaning people in the department trying to do the best they can," he said. "They're in this invidious position of not even having the resources to be able to monitor whether the conservation status was going up or down with threatened communities." The DCBA did not confirm whether it had made a formal case for increased funding to implement the Biodiversity Conservation Act. In a statement, a department spokesperson said it welcomed the auditor general's review. "Recovery actions for TECs and threatened species are built into broader conservation programs by DBCA and supported by State, Commonwealth, and non-government funding," they said. "Regional conservation planning is being finalised across all nine DBCA regions, ensuring a consistent, prioritised approach to addressing threats to threatened species and ecological communities." The spokesperson said recovery plans were prioritised when significant complexities in conservation planning arose.
