A new campaign by Australian Wildlife Society is urging Greater Shepparton residents to protect local wildlife by cutting through plastic rings, rubber bands and hair ties before disposing them of.
Bunbartha’s Bohollow Wildlife Shelter is backing the campaign after coming to the rescue of dozens of injured wildlife tangled in human rubbish every year.
Head rescuer Kirsty Ramadan said locals would be surprised where their rubbish ended up.
“I have 25 years’ experience specialising in animal entanglement cases,” Ms Ramadan said.
“From the rings on jars and bottle tops around ducks’ necks to just recently helping retrieve a swan with packaging and string around its head I have seen so many animals injured by rubbish.
“When animals are caught up in rubbish, they can’t move or feed properly – they can be strangled, obtain significant injuries and have to endure long painful rehab or unfortunately die horrific deaths from something so simple,” she said.
Ms Ramadan called on the community to cut through anything circular before putting it in the bin and think carefully about how they dispose of any rubbish.
“Because we live along rivers and waterways, we often are rescuing birds that are tangled in fishing line and string,” Ms Ramadan said.
“If people see rubbish on the ground when they are out walking or exercising then pick it up.
“A 10-centimetre piece of string or hair tie could trap an animal and lead to them to die or loose their feet or wings,” she said.
The Australian Wildlife Society is encouraging people to get behind and promote the campaign by posting a video of themselves on social media snipping through a plastic ring, rubber band or hair tie before disposing it of and using the hashtag #snipringsforwildlife.
Ms Ramadan urged the community to report injured local wildlife to Bohollow Wildlife Shelter immediately and wait for experienced handlers to arrive before approaching the animal.
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