A new wildlife rescue group is now operating in the South West Slopes and the foothills of the Snowy Mountains.
Saving Our Native Animals (SONA) is a non – profit voluntary organisation with keen and energetic members ready to do their best for our local native wildlife.
Georgia Gowanloch started the organisation after being a wildlife carer for six years with WIRES (The NSW Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service Inc).
“I have always had a passion for animals and growing up in Rozelle, Sydney I always wanted to be able to work with animals that you never saw in the city,” Mrs Gowanloch said.
“My passion started with reptiles and I volunteered at Taronga Zoo for three years at "Serpentaria" the Reptile Centre before I moved to Adelong and joined WIRES as a volunteer carer.
“I felt there was need for another local wildlife rescue organisation and so I came up with the name Saving Our Native Animals (SONA).
“I applied for a Group license to rehabilitate native fauna in January 2009 with the Department Of Environment, Climate Change & Water (DECCW) and National Parks & Wildlife Services (NPWS), and in April 2009 SONA was approved,” she said.
SONA has approved release sites for rehabilitated wildlife including Mrs Gowanloch's property "Happy Farm” at Adelong.
The property is a safe haven for all injured wildlife and is surrounded by 900 acres where the animals are free to come and go.
“Animals are brought to me when they are usually at the "out of pouch" age when they are grazing full time from about 6 kilos on wards,” said Mrs Gowanloch.
“I wean them off their milk at the appropriate age depending on the different species. Kangaroos and wallabies have space to build up their muscle strength, while wombats learn to dig burrows and when I feel they are ready I open the gate to the pre-release compound and they are free to leave,” she said.
“Soft releases are encouraged at SONA as it is less stressful on the animals, they leave when they are ready,” she said.
SONA has over sixty members and
has seen great support from the local
communities.
SONA has had many success stories in their short time, one such story is that of a joey kangaroo by the name of “Lucky”.
He was brought to SONA with not much hope, he was blind in both eyes due to cataracts.
“It was easy to euthanaise him, but we don’t euthanaise humans because they are blind, and animals shouldn’t be any different. We have to be true to our name Saving Our Native Animals, we must give every animal a chance for a full recovery and release back in to the wild”, Mrs Gowanloch said.
SONA was optimistic they could save him and trekked the ten hour round trip to Mona Vale where renowned wildlife Vet Dr Howard Ralph performed the delicate operation on both his eyes so he could see again.
“This was an expensive exercise but the community really got behind the organization and we were able to fund Lucky’s procedures,” Mrs Gowanloch said.
Lucky is doing well and is due for release later this year.
Volunteer carers Belinda Rennes and Angela Moran both from Adelong said that it’s the success stories that keep you going.
“It’s not easy when you are caring for sometimes up to eight baby kangaroos and they need feeding every couple of hours,” Ms Moran said.
“But when you see them at the end of it all and they can fend for themselves and be released in their natural habitats to continue the circle of life it makes it all worth it,” she said.
“We both have children and it’s also great for them to be around the animals and it educates them about how important it is to conserve our native animals is and to respect our native fauna and environment,” Ms Rennes said.
CLAW (Children Learning About Wildlife) is part of the SONA Education program which encourages children of all ages to learn about wildlife.
“We will be holding information days at local high schools and will be focusing on years 11 and 12 as the minimum age requirement for becoming a licensed wildlife carer is 18 years of age. We feel education is very important for our wildlife,” Mrs Gowanloch said.
SONA holds training and information days throughout the year.
If you would like to attend any training days or find native animals needing assistance please phone SONA on (02) 6946 2222 SONA’s website: www.sona.org.au will be on line at the end of Sepetmber 2010.
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