Latest news with #WildlifeRescuers
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wildlife Rescuers Shares the Adorable Way Mama Elephants Keep Their Babies in Line
Wildlife Rescuers Shares the Adorable Way Mama Elephants Keep Their Babies in Line originally appeared on PetHelpful. Just like human moms, sometimes animal moms have trouble keeping their toddlers from running away and getting into trouble. Babies -both human and animal - are naturally curious, so it makes sense that they want to get away from mom and explore the world on their own, but it can be dangerous for them. Elephant moms have the cutest way of keeping track of their little ones, and it's adorable to see. Wildlife Rescuers shared a video of one mama elephant and her little one. Watch as these rambunctious toddler tries to get away from mom, and how mom keeps track of where the baby's going. The baby elephant didn't look so happy about not being able to run off and do his own thing! Wildlife Rescuers said in the video's caption, "Mama elephants often use their trunks to gently grab their baby's tail to keep them close and safe. This helps prevent the little ones from wandering into dangerous areas and allows the mother to guide and control them—especially when they get a bit too curious or playful! It's a sweet and practical way to protect their young while teaching them to stay with the herd."While mama elephants hold their baby's tail to keep them in line, A to Z Animals explains that it's a sign of affection as well. "Elephants hold their babies' tails for reasons similar to why humans hold hands: to help, support, or show affection." Reptile Knowledge also explains that calves hold on to their mother's tail to help keep up. Elephants will also hold on to each other's tails and surround their calves as a form of protection from predators. A to Z shares another instance when elephants will hold each other's tails, "Elephants also hold on to each other's tails when scared. Quite often, they cross through rivers with strong currents or those containing predators like crocodiles. To safeguard weak elephants, and ensure that every member of the herd comes out safely, tail holding could be done in a single-file arrangement. Usually, the matriarch (head female elephant) takes the lead, while every elephant props the tail of the elephant in its front." Really, all the same reasons us humans hold hands! Wildlife Rescuers Shares the Adorable Way Mama Elephants Keep Their Babies in Line first appeared on PetHelpful on Jul 7, 2025 This story was originally reported by PetHelpful on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
Daily Mail
02-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Heartbreaking explanation for a kangaroo filmed acting erratically on the side of a highway
Confronting footage has emerged of a kangaroo suffering from a fatal condition after eating a certain type of weed introduced from Europe. Kangaroos across NSW, Victoria and South Australia have been dying from 'Phalaris staggers' which is a neurological condition that causes tremors and makes them lose their balance and collapse. Phalaris Aquatica is a crop grown to feed cattle and farmers can administer cobalt to their animals to protect them against the effects of Phalaris, but kangaroos are not given the preventative measure. After eating the grass, kangaroos become confused, disoriented and can be seen staggering around and shaking their heads. Leoni Sorrentino, from the volunteer group Wildlife Rescuers, told Daily Mail Australia that the problem had been around since the grass was introduced in the 19th century. She said the kangaroos affected suffer tremendously after eating the weed. 'They just get worse and end up having a horrific death,' she said. 'We're not allowed to relocate them so it makes it really hard.' Ms Sorrentino said kangaroos are most at risk of coming across the weed in times of drought, bushfires and in the cooler months from April to September. She alone had to euthanise eight kangaroos last week and said she heard of another group who had to put down six more animals. 'This year has been the worst since I've been a rescuer,' she said. 'It's quite a hardy weed. Even in bushfires, it will grow before anything else grows. The roots are sweet so they continue to keep eating them. 'There's been no tests done on how it affects them, neurologically, so we don't know if it passes to joeys through mum's milk because they're coming in sick as well.' Ms Sorrentino said the condition affected kangaroos so badly that they didn't know what was going on around them. 'It's to the point that they have no idea that anyone is standing near them and that's how we're able to grab them,' she said. 'Some are too far gone and they're just laying on the ground. They're just fox bait, unfortunately.'
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Man Reunites Baby Sloth with Mom and She Says 'Thank You' in the Sweetest Way Possible
Man Reunites Baby Sloth with Mom and She Says 'Thank You' in the Sweetest Way Possible originally appeared on PetHelpful. We all love a story with a happy ending, especially when it comes to animals that need help. Baby sloths occasionally fall out of trees, and without human intervention, they often are never reunited with their moms. But that's not the case for this sloth and her baby. Wildlife Rescuers shared the video of the rescue, and it'll make you smile. It's always heartwarming to see someone reunite a baby sloth with their mother, but this video was a bit different because the mother actually says thank you to the rescuer after she gets her baby back. Mom hugs her baby, happy to have them back, but what she does next is the sweetest thank you you'll ever see! And if you've never heard a baby sloth before, make sure your sound is on! It probably won't be surprising to hear that Wildlife Rescuers' video of the sloth thanking her rescuer immediately went viral and has more than 10 million views and over 5 thousand comments. People loved the sweet exchange between the grateful mother and the rescuer! Commenter @ItzKat pointed out, "That's probably the fastest she's ever moved," while @gusncharly joked, "Mom's thinking you just saved her a 3-hour trip down to the base of the tree to pick up the little guy! LOL!" @Dena swooned, "How appreciative she was to the rescuer." @Durton said what we were all thinking, "I don't think I could ever let go! What an amazing experience!"Did you know that, unlike some other baby animals, baby sloths are born weighing only 10 ounces, but they are born with sharp claws and a full set of teeth? Not only that, but they can climb as soon as they're born. While they are supposed to cling to their mother's fur for the first six months, just like toddlers, they enjoy exploring their new world. This may explain why so many of them get separated from their mom because if they let go, they fall. Baby sloths may explore, but they can't run away from mom since they only move at a whopping 15 feet per minute. Imagine how long it would take for Mom to climb down to retrieve her baby or try to get across a busy road. Here's a fun sloth fact: Some sloths live their entire lives in the same tree. Since they can live for up to 40 years, I imagine it must get incredibly boring to never leave the tree! Man Reunites Baby Sloth with Mom and She Says 'Thank You' in the Sweetest Way Possible first appeared on PetHelpful on Jun 28, 2025 This story was originally reported by PetHelpful on Jun 28, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Property owners warned as 'sickening' photo highlights common problem outside Aussie cities
Wildlife rescuers have issued a reminder to property owners after attending a surprising scene on a rural property saving a distressed kangaroo found dangling by its foot in a tall wire fence. While not an uncommon scene in Australia, one detail has highlighted how easy it can happen even when a common culprit isn't involved. The lone animal was discovered in the very early morning by a dog owner on a neighbouring property in Whittlesea, where suburbs continue to stretch north from Melbourne into rural habitat. Local man Chris was alerted to the animal's plight after letting his dog out. He called the Melbourne-based group Wildlife Rescuers with volunteer Michael attending to help and wrap up the sizeable animal with a towel and lift her up while Chris cut the fence to free her. "It doesn't take long for them to do irreparable damage when caught in fences, so she was very lucky to come out of this with no serious injury," Michael said. "Just because she didn't have any injury doesn't mean she is out of the woods. Stress related diseases such as myopathy can still be an issue, so she was taken to a shelter for rehabilitation." Speaking to Yahoo News from his day job on Monday morning, the rescuer said such "heartbreaking" incidents "happen quite often". "Usually there is about a case a day where there's one trapped," he said. 🦅 Rare photo captures eagle's unbelievable catch in outback 🌳 Outback duo share 'fantastic' and free garden idea that 🐍 Aussie fishermen scramble as tiger snake climbs into boat "I actually went to a case a couple months ago when a woman found a kangaroo caught in a fence and it had to be euthanised because its injuries were so bad... But as I was driving further down that road, I found another one and she had just been hanging in the fence and had died, she was all torn apart by other animals. And again, I travelled further and I found another one, deceased and caught in a fence," he told Yahoo. Typically though, barbed wire fencing in the culprit – something that is notorious among the wildlife carer community for inflicting harm on native wildlife. The fence that ensnared the kangaroo did not actually have any barbed wire in the section where the animal became stuck, and to the naked eye looked perfectly innocuous. "What happens is the strands can intertwine and their legs get caught. Even if there is no barbed wire, it can still tear skin and shred their feet," Michael warned. The incident prompted a reminder to Aussies online to be aware about the potential hazard posed by their property boundary line. "Sickening that this is happening day in and day out all around our beautiful country. You'd think that more landowners would at the very least attach a piece of white tape to the top rung of wire to make it more visible," one local woman wrote. Michael agreed, saying although he rarely sees it, adding reflective tape to the top of a fence line can improve visibility for wildlife like macropods who can get caught trying to jump over it. Doug Gimesy recently bought a property in regional Victoria but the very day he moved in, he spotted a kangaroo caught upside down on the barbed wire fence that encased his vast new land. "We moved down here in May and the first day at our new home we saw an eastern grey kangaroo caught in the top two barbed wire lines of our fence," he told Yahoo News last week. The encounter led him to painstakingly remove the wire from 17 kilometres of fencing along his Wongarra property – a job that took him a solid 10 months to complete. Speaking to Yahoo, rescuer Michael praised Doug's massive effort and even volunteered to help other property owners to do the same. "It's a big effort, but I'm glad he did that... I'd even offer to help take some of this crap down, just to avoid having to go out to some of these cases, because it's just heartbreaking," he said, adding in many cases the barbed wire is needlessly adorned around land housing cow, or sometimes mostly empty paddocks. As for the kangaroo at the top of the story, she remains in care with other injured wildlife being monitored. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
