[Voiceover] Human impacts are one of the biggest threats
to native Australian species out in the wild,
which is why the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital was established
with an average of 11 native species being admitted
to the wildlife hospital for lifesaving treatment every single day.
There are so many stories to be shared.
Today we're going to follow the stories of five of those patients.
[Dr. Emily] So we've just had a wild koala brought into us
by one of the local koala rescue groups that has been found within a dog's mouth.
It's a very critical situation.
His name is Kenji, and he looks to be in shock.
And we need to rush him into an anesthetic at the moment to try and stabilise him
as rapidly as possible.
So he's looking as though the damage from the dog is pretty severe.
So on our first examination of Kenji
since he's arrived,
We've been able to find that there are no fractures,
which is amazing news for him.
But he does have some very nasty damage around his back legs.
He's got a hematoma, a big bruise on the inside
of one of his thighs and the back musculature sitting over
his rump has actually been torn apart and the skin has been shredded.
So I've had to take him into surgery and clean that whole area
up and stitch that back together.
So unfortunately, us humans are one of the biggest threats
to the koala populations in the wild at the moment.
and with the koala recently we put on the endangered species list.
It's absolutely critical that we try and save every single individual here
at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital.
And I think Kenji is a really special story
that reminds us to try and practice responsible pet ownership.
And, you know, keep our dogs on leads wherever we can, and especially in
in wild animal habitats where they're, you know, trying to live
their lives out in the wild where they should be.
G'day It's Robert here.
And I wanted to introduce you guys to two very cute hospital residents.
We've got Goldilocks and Juliet here.
Now, these two little fluff balls are possums, and unfortunately,
they came in with some pretty significant problems, particularly Goldilocks.
Now, Goldilocks, you can see that eye is not in the best way.
Now, she's been undergoing care for weeks and our wonderful team
have done a really good job to make sure she can actually keep that eye
and to also ensure that her scarring does not become too significant.
Unfortunately, this is an issue that we see quite often.
This on top of many human caused effects
like habitat degradation, road traffic, domestic animal attacks.
It's really taking its toll on native wildlife, particularly possums.
So to give these two a second chance at life is very special.
And in a very exciting note, these two are finally ready for release.
So they're going to be heading back out into the wild very soon.
[Voiceover] We've seen an influx of patients being admitted
to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital with gunshot wounds from B.B.
guns and pellet rifles.
Vet Taylor is going to tell us more about one of these most recent cases.
[Dr. Taylor] So George is an adult magpie,
and he came in to us a few weeks ago with a rifle pellet in his neck.
This is unfortunately becoming a very common occurrence
for us here at the wildlife hospital.
And we're seeing a lot of animals come in with rifle pellet injuries.
So when he presented,
it was found on X-ray that he had this pellet right in the middle of his neck.
But luckily, it didn't hit any vital structures.
So we did a surgery to remove that and remove some of the infected
tissue around it.
And a week later, he had another revision surgery with one of our other awesome
vets just to clean up the rest of the infected tissue.
And we had to remove lots of feather material.
So we're now a couple of weeks
post-op and he's looking awesome.
He's flying really well.
His wounds are healing beautifully and he's gotten off very lucky.
And he'll be looking at release very soon.
[Dr. Sarah] So we have Barcelona,
who is an eastern grey kangaroo joey.
Unfortunately, Mum was hit by a car and found dead on the side of the road.
Thankfully a Good Samaritan has checked the pouch and found that
she was in there and was able to bring her to us for specialist treatment.
So basically what we did when she arrived was
we put her into a little humidicrib where she was able to warm up.
And then when she was stable, we anesthetised her,
took some radiographs, some X-rays to make sure that there weren't
any broken bones and found that she was all clear.
She does however, have a lot of bruising it's under her jaw.
Also on her little right wrist and then also on her two back legs.
So we're treating her with some pain relief and anti-inflammatory Panadol.
So unfortunately, when
a roo is hit on the side of the road and euthanized or has died,
then we need to continue
looking after the joey and it's no small feat.
They're generally looked after for at minimum a year
before they're able to be soft released, which means that they're released
in a controlled environment.
So we can make sure that they handle it okay.
And then they get released into the wild.
But tabs are definitely still kept on them up until that point.
So it's really important at, particularly dusk and dawn
with the roo's and also the Wallabies that we're very, very careful on our road.
If you see a wallaby or a kangaroo on the side of the road, please
make sure you slow right down because they do get scared
by the headlights and they don't know which way they going.
Obviously if you see a roo or a wallaby that's unfortunately passed away
on the side of the road that you do a pouch check,
they can stay alive for 24 to 48 hours.
So it is really important to check.
[Voiceover] Kenji, Goldilocks, Juliet, Barcelona and George
were all incredibly lucky to be rescued
and brought to the amazing team at the Australian Zoo Wildlife Hospital.
However, so many others are not so fortunate.
This is why it is so important for everyone to play their part.
Looking out for your native wildlife, wherever you are in the world.