Taronga Giving Day doubles donations for Wildlife Hospital 

Each year, the two wildlife hospitals in Sydney and Dubbo play a critical role in wildlife rehabilitation, treating 1,500 sick, orphaned and injured wildlife patients and perform 120 lifesaving surgeries each month. As well as providing lifesaving care to wildlife, Taronga’s two specialist teaching hospitals have trained more than 5,000 veterinary practitioners, wildlife carers and students across Australia, equipping them with essential skills to treat wildlife in need. This impact is set to rise with increasing climate change pressure on native wildlife and with the opening of a new, much larger hospital in Sydney later this year.

Two recent patients admitted to the Taronga Wildlife Hospital - a Yellow-bellied Glider and Macquarie River Turtle - are facing long and complex recoveries and highlight the diverse expertise of Taronga’s veterinary team in caring for a remarkable array of species. 

The adult Yellow-bellied Glider was found entangled on a barbed-wire fence with severe injuries to his patagium, the specialised membrane that allows gliders to move between trees. In a remarkable twist of fate, the injured glider was taken to Cooranbong Animal Hospital where general practice veterinarian Dr Dolly Jackson provided urgent care. Dr Jackson had recently completed Taronga's Veterinary Professional Training in Wildlife Treatment course, equipping her with the skills and confidence to treat native wildlife. 

After initial surgery, Dr Jackson personally transported the little patient to Taronga Wildlife Hospital for ongoing care. Since arriving at Taronga, the glider has required a month of intensive rehabilitation, including careful physiotherapy to support healing and preserve function in the delicate gliding membrane. As the tissue repairs and contracts, his ability to glide remains limited, making recovery slow and uncertain.  

Closer to home, a female Macquarie River Turtle was admitted to Taronga Wildlife Hospital after being found in Centennial Park, with fishing line extending from her mouth. After an urgent general anaesthesia to assess the injury, the team used an endoscope which identified a large hook lodged deep in her throat. Unable to safely remove it using the scope, vets were left with no choice but to perform complex surgery to remove it. As an ectothermic species, turtles heal more slowly than mammals and her recovery has required long-term antibiotics, repeated wound care and close monitoring to reduce the risk of infection. She remains in Taronga’s wildlife rehabilitation ward and is expected to continue treatment over Winter before being released back into the wild.

Dr Kimberly Vinette Herin, Veterinarian at the Taronga Wildlife Hospital in Sydney said these two native Australian patients reflect the growing pressures facing the thousands of native wildlife that are treated and cared for each year.

"It’s our duty to help and we never turn native wildlife away. We never know what's going to happen from one day to the next, which is very, very challenging. We also never know how long a patient will require care and how much that treatment will cost.

“Recently, we released a critically endangered juvenile Loggerhead Turtle, who had been with us for 10-months of intensive care until it was well enough to be released off Lord Howe Island. With ongoing care, plus a specialised tracker to monitor its release, operational costs for that turtle alone added up to more than $17,500.”

“We know that as climate change wreaks havoc and more species sit on the brink of extinction, we’ll be increasingly called on to do more. Taronga’s Giving Day is an incredible way to double your impact and support native wildlife by helping us upskill and train the next generation of first-responders, vets, nurses and wildlife carers to help Australian wildlife in need.”