‘Wildlife don’t come with a credit card': who pays for a koala’s vet bill?

Despite the financial strain and workplace shortage in the veterinary industry, many regional NSW vets continue to treat native wildlife pro bono.

Transcript

00:00Australia's native wildlife is under serious threat with a surge in wildlife care admissions

00:07amid a lack of funding and veterinary care specialists.

00:11Okay there's no medicare for wildlife, wildlife don't come with a credit card

00:16so you know we take on that responsibility because we feel like we should.

00:22Despite the financial strain on the veterinary industry many regional New South Wales vets

00:28continue to treat native wildlife like koalas pro bono with no compensation.

00:34If wildlife don't get the care that they need or the care that they deserve so that timely

00:40veterinary treatment then the option is for them not to get any treatment and to potentially

00:45you know pass away in quite a horrific manner or in quite a painful way.

00:50There's also a workforce shortage even as a New South Wales inquiry recommends the government

00:56provide dedicated funding for wildlife vet services and treatment.

01:01It's not necessarily a sustainable outcome for the charity sector

01:06that is largely driven by volunteers to fund that work.

01:10Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital is a not-for-profit hospital that treats

01:15thousands of native animals free of charge.

01:18One of only two wildlife hospitals in the entire state that treats all wildlife species.

01:25During 2023 we did see an increase in our admissions and that was up to 70%

01:30on the previous year so in 2022.

01:37Australian graduates, general practice vets and particularly overseas vets simply don't have the

01:43knowledge and skills to deal with the vast array of wildlife that we have here in this country

01:48and one of the salient points about being a wildlife vet is you know the anatomy and physiology

01:54of the vast range of of species we see is incredibly different

01:59and you know it takes many many many years to acquire that knowledge.

02:05So if they don't get the care that they need and that sort of habitat you know whole holistic

02:11approach then we might lose certain species we might lose the koala.