Emergency First Aid

If you come across injured or orphaned fauna approach the animal, bird or reptile with caution.  It will not know you are trying to help and in its fear it may use its defence mechanisms of biting, scratching or kicking.

Cover it with a towel or blanket to minimise stress and firmly but gently place it in a cardboard box, or natural fibre bag if available.  Try to make it as comfortable as possible.  Keep it in a warm and quiet place away from domestic pets and children and resist the temptation to peek at it.

Then call the FAWNA Duty Officer on

026581 4141

who will advise the best course of immediate action.

Alternatively you can take the animal to a vet who will contact FAWNA to arrange collection.  There will be no charge to you.

Other Useful Wildlife Rescue Pointers

• Do not attempt to feed or water the animal unless advised to do so.  Unnecessary handling at this stage can cause more harm than good.

• Some animals require particular handling if they need to be rescued.   Bats and flying foxes, venomous reptiles, raptors (birds of prey) have special handling requirements and should not be handled by untrained people.

• If safe for you to do so, check the pouches of marsupials killed on the road as there may be a live joey or joeys inside.  Do not use force to remove a joey from the teat but collect mother and young for later separation.

• If you cannot handle the animal, record your odometer reading to a known point so the exact location can be given to the FAWNA duty officer.

• If delivering the animal to a vet or anyone else always leave the encounter location details when you drop it off. This will allow the animal to be relocated in its home territory after rehabilitation.

• For baby birds, look around to see if you can identify a likely parent still in the vicinity.