Help save the Bare-Nosed Wombat

One of the wild wombats that we have been treating for a while, is named Chessi. She's a girl :) She was also suffering from sarcoptic mange, a disease that kills wombats after months of intense suffering.

Chessi was reported by the landowner and we started treatment right away. We also set up a motion censor, night vision wildlife camera to monitor her progress.

Chessi received treatments for mange between June 2022 and November 2023. In the beginning her eyes were crusted over and she was effectively blind. Mange causes a severe allergic reaction and thick mange plaques form all over their bodies. Even their soft and thin eyelids. This crust transform the eyelids into rockhard skin that cannot move, which means even though she isnt' blind, she can't open her eyes so she can't see.

Within 2-3 months it was obvious that Chessi was getting better as her eyes weren't crusted anymore. By November 2022 she looked very good, fur has started to grow back and she was moving very fast. She still had mange unfortunately, which is visible as the gill-like striations on her side.

In this time, disaster struck. She was mid-treatment but a fox took over her tree-burrow and she disappeared. We didn't know where to although we searched and investigated every report of a manged wombat that came in from the area.

She was still unwell so the worry was that her mange would increase and spread again. 

Chessi was finally spotted by the landowner in March 2023 and we put the camera back in the tree-burrow and started treatment.

Unfortunately this time Chessi is much sicker as her mange has progressed unchecked for the last 4 months. It will take some time to fully heal but we are hopeful that we can keep track of her this time and that foxes won't interfere again.

Our wildlife face so many crisis, interference by pest animals is just one of many but foxes in particular are culprits in more than one way as they also spread and carry sarcoptic mange.

Chessi has now had 2 doses of treatment and will continue to be closely monitored. Every trip to visit her or service the camera or check footage is an hour roundtrip but we do this not just for her, but for every wombat that we are asked to help with.

Links:

• Tracking Chessi's treatment over 12 months

Wombat Nic is one of the wombats we have been treating in the field. Initially, he was reported by the landowner on whose farm he lives as he was suffering from sarcoptic mange.

When we went out to asses, we looked at factors such as his body condition and size, their health status and their environment so we can decide on the best course of action. If we are able to treat a wombat in the field, that is what we prefer to do. Bringing wombats into care is very challenging. We don't have the facilities to bring all the wombats we help into care. Also taking them out of their environment leaves a gap for a new wombat to fill (they are very territorial). Which means we then couldnt take Nic back if that happens.

But they also suffer from stress so it is ideal to leave them where they are and treat them in situ. But in this case Nic's mange was clearing up nicely but he got himself snagged in a barbed wire fence we believe as he had a big gash in his shoulder that was infected. He is a clever boy and kept rolling in the dirt to cover the wound to keep the flies away but this also meant more bacteria. On top of this wound and his mange we heard his breathing was raspy and rattly, which could mean pneumonia.

Based on all of these we made the call to bring Nic into care and get him to a vet clinic for treatment. After Nic was sedated, his wound was cleaned and disinfected and he received a tetanus vaccine and antibiotics.

To help Nic recuperate and continue giving him antibiotics, we placed him in a wombat proof enclosure where he will be taken care of for a couple of weeks until his wound is healed and his infections cleared up. After that we will take him back to his home as the landowners are very happy to have a wild wombat living under their shed.

Nic is one of about 50 wombats we are currently looking after, even if they are wild and not all in care, we do look after them, search and find them, treat them and love them. It's a huge job for our amazing volunteers but done with so much passion.

Wombats like Nic are plentiful. They are out there needing help and we try to find and help as many as we can.

Thank you for your continued support to our program. Without donations we cannot continue the work we do daily.

Kind regards

Yolandi

Wombat Rescue

Links:

• Wild wombat Nic