NEWS LETTER THANK YOU LOTTERYWEST. President Dot Terry Bos and Vice President - Reini Bos. Vol Mobile dotbos@bigpond.

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1 NEWS LETTER Vol President Dot Terry Bos and Vice President - Reini Bos Phone Mobile dotbos@bigpond.com We all can t believe how fast this year is going, we have been so busy with rescues, rehabilitating, raising money and all the extensions going on around the hospital. We have not had a chance to stop and look back on all the work that has been completed. We would like to take a look back now at what has been done so far and say thank you to everyone who helped out.. THANK YOU LOTTERYWEST Without the continuing support from Lotterywest we would not be able to expand the hospital like we have. Our bird Hospital started out as a shed but with the grant of $ 89,000 from the State Government Lotterywest and an extra $15,283 from donations that also went towards the construction. We would like to thank some volunteers, builders Mic, John, Dave painters Margret, Keiren and the Mandurah Catholic kids. We would also like to thank Dave from Bali Huts for the time they gave Kevin our wonderful electrician and Dunkin our wonderful tiler. Thank you to Ann, Trish and Lilah for your very hard work on the day. Our very hard working volunteers clocked up over 1000 building hour. Last but not least we would like to make a special thank you to Reini Bos for his very hard work and dedication. Thank you to Richard from Halls Head Vets for your continuous support. The new hospital will greatly help us better care for our native creatures and also allow expansion of the ICU and triage. The Hospital was opened on the 22nd of May by Dawesville MLA Kim Hames, local elder Harry Nannup, President Dot Bos and Vice president Reini Bos. The hospital will be used to care for sick, injured or orphaned animals. Some birds can carry diseases the hospital will reduce the contact with other animals. With the new microscope and computer we can also find out what diseases the birds may have and monitor the birds recovery.

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3 MORE ROOM TO HOP THANKS TO The extension to our kangaroo enclosure is near to completion, our young kangaroos have now got more room to hop around and play thanks to ALCOA. ALCOA have been such an outstanding support group to us from the very beginning. If ALCOA is not donating money they are donating their time with their workers volunteering their time around the centre in the gardens. ALCOA also have a great release program and have released animals back into the wild after the animals have come to us from that area. Such animals as Bandicoots, Echidnas, Possums, Mardo, Chudich and Phascogale thank you ALCOA for your support. THE POO TALKS We have so many exceptional volunteers working at Mandurah Wildlife Hospital and Sue is one of them. Sue was an Microbiologist and has been working with us for a while now. With our donated microscope from Lotterywest we can test any animals feaces. To see if the animal may be carrying any diseases or have organ failure. With Sue s help we can find out so much more information on the animal faster and to be able to monitor the animals recovery. The microscope is such a great piece of equipment to have we can test and medicate in a very short time now and that helps with recovery. Thank you so much Sue

4 DUCK DUCK GONE Ducklings are so cute, really cute but if you have ever raised any you know how smelly and messy they can get but if you have not ever raised ducklings before your nose has been saved. Tam is our duck Dad at MWR he takes care of our ducklings that we get in till they are ready for release. Tam has set up a duckling friendly enclosures that are moveable with less mess and bigger areas to play in. Ducklings grow up so fast so it doesn't take long till they are ready to fly away. Some don t go to far and love coming home thank you Tam for your hard work. DID YOU KNOW? Bread is bad for Ducks! Bread is like junk food for ducks, if fed to much it can lead to excessive weight and malnutrition. You could always feed them half grapes, cracked corn, bird seed, oats, barley, pumpkin seeds and lettuce. All good stock feed stores sell duck food THANK YOU HALLS HEAD COLES We would like to thank Coles in Halls Head for their on going donations of meat, fruit and vegetables. That has made a great difference to our normal food bills, thank you to the store manger John Holmes and his staff. We will be doing a display at Coles soon. THANKS AGAIN COLES

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6 THE WESTERN RINGTAIL POSSUM COULD BECOME EXTINCT The Western Ringtail Possum is now listed as ENDANGERED. This small nocturnal mammal faces a significant risk of extinction in the near future all or a significant part of its range due to habitat destruction, changes in climate, and increased predation. Its numbers have fallen drastically in the past 10 years. We have a small population of these endearing creatures in the Dawesville, Bouvard and Herron areas. Unlike the larger Brush tail Possum these little guys do not raid the vegetable garden. Peppermint ( Agonis flexuosa ) leaves make up 90% of their diet and are used to construct their dreys (nests) in trees. The female builds a drey by collecting twigs and leaves and carrying them in her long, curled tail, and weaving them together into a basketball-sized nest. Habitat loss is a significant factor in their decline. Removal of mature Peppermints for development breaks their habitat down into areas too small to support the animals and they can no longer move between sites without the danger of predation ( from cats, dogs and foxes ). Several orphaned baby Ringtails have come into our care and successfully been returned back into the wild. Once they were weaned they were placed in soft-released cages built in groves of established Peppermint tress, where they are fed the leaves and flowers off local trees. They also feed on Acacias, Marri and other eucalypt species. Prior to their release they were measured, tagged and a DNA sample taken by Department of Parks and Wildlife officers. The tagging enabled these animals to be monitored. After release at least two of them successfully mated with wild possums and reared babies to separation (when they leave their mother). Mandurah Wildlife Hospital does a lot of work with our wonderful endangered Ringtail Possums.

7 WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP THE RINGTAIL POSSUM ~ Help preserve our precious old Peppermint Tress ~ Plant more Peppermint for the future generation of possums. Seedlings can be bought in bulk from Men of the Tress at ~Help maintain canopy connectivity, so they can move through the trees without needing to come down to the ground. Build a possum highway a fence they can safely walk along is good or link trees with sturdy branches. ~ In the heat of summer, they need fresh water too! Just as you may have bird baths, you can also place water containers in elevated places, in the Peppermint trees, along the fence, or on the roof of a shed. ~ Artificial dreys may also help and encourage the local population to multiply. They rest during the day in a drey, tree hollow or something just in the fork of a tree. They have to compete with the Brushtails for the hollows, but the uniqueness of their drey means that virtually only Ringtails use them. Once a baby leaves the pouch, the mother Ringtail will leave it in the drey while she feeds nearby. So the survival of the young can depend on the availability of a safe, secure drey. Not all mothers Ringtails are good at building a drey. ~ Please keep your cats and dogs inside at night. Cats and dogs kill and injure many possums. We would like to thank Allson and Paul for helping with releasing our possums. FOR MORE INFORMATION The Busselton Possum Centre has a website with extensive information including how to construct a drey. Or Or our Website - mandurahwildlife.com.au

8 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED We desperately need more volunteers to cope with demand, we have been receiving more and more injured wildlife daily. We are flat out and really need more volunteers. We are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The hospital is expanding quickly and we never turn away native animals because we believe ALL GOD`S CREATURES DESERVE A CHANCE. We welcome all animal lovers as volunteers from students over 16 years of age wanting experience. To people needing to put in hours for Centrelink. After training volunteers help with feeding, cleaning, all round care for wildlife and now is the best time for training before we get busy. Volunteer trades people always needed and garden yard workers. We are expanding now and need help from all trades people. We always need materials donated such as timber, as well as colorbond for fencing and paving bricks. UP COMING EVENTS - We are at the Mandurah forum twice a month so please keep a look out on facebook for the dates as they come up. - We also have Bunnings Mandurah coming up soon dates will be advertised on facebook. - If your school would like Mandurah Wildlife to do a wildlife display and information class please contact Dot on or dotbos@bigpond.com

9 100% OF ALL DONATIONS GO TO THE REHABILITATION AND CARE OF OUR NATIVE WILDLIFE CONTACT US AT- ADDRESS 1400 Old Coast Road Dawesville W.A 6211 PHONE or mob or WEBSITE mandurahwildlife.com.au PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!!!