Nearly three billion animals were trapped by the bushfires that ravaged Australia in 2019 and 2020. This tragic period, “one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history”, was the scene of terrible scenes for the animals, but also outbursts of courage and solidarity from the Australians who came to their aid. Meeting with two wildlife defenders who protect kangaroos.
For six years, Lorita Baumann and Kevin Clapson have worked as volunteers for the organization WIRES, which comes to the rescue of wild animals in danger. The couple live in East Lynne on the Pacific Rim, more than three hours by car south of Sydney.
They had already been taking care of injured kangaroos or young orphans in the shelter they built on their property for three years when the fires decimated everything towards the end of 2019. They remember it as if it was yesterday.
“Our house was completely surrounded by flames. It was excruciating,” recalls Kevin, who never left the scene. He stayed there with the fire department to salvage what he could. Their home was spared, but not the enclosure in which they kept their kangaroo residents. Fortunately, they were evacuated in time by Lorita, who sped off with them in her small car to seek refuge elsewhere.
“From the enclosure, there was practically nothing left,” she says. But that didn’t stop them from taking care of the kangaroos that survived the fires. “Many of them had their paws burned. We had to treat them, give them bandages, ”explains the one who, in addition to having followed all the training to take care of these marsupials, has been a nurse all her life.
For others, it was too late. “It was extremely difficult to see all these animals suffer and die. We had to euthanize a lot of them… knowing that in the lot, there were probably several that we had taken care of and that we had released, ”says Kevin Clapson.
Since that time, he supports his wife, but is no longer involved as much as her. “It was too painful,” he says.
Two kangaroos per inhabitant
In Australia, kangaroos are everywhere: on coins, the country’s coat of arms, the Qantas airline logo. They come and go in the parks and on the private grounds of Australians.
Today there are twice as many kangaroos as people. From a population of less than 30 million in 2010, they have grown to almost 50 million today.
To some, they’re pests, but to the Clapsons, they’re an iconic species to take care of.
Since the big fires, they have rebuilt the kangaroo enclosure on their land, bordered by woods — the bushsays Kevin, who considers himself lucky to live in a place rich in biodiversity.
But when you listen, the sound of cars driving on the main road just behind the trees reminds us that the surrounding fauna lives in a habitat that is not without danger, because it must live there with the man. “About 70% of the kangaroos we care for have been victims of collisions with cars,” estimates Kevin Clapson.
orphan joeys
Most of their residents are joeysthe name given by Australians to young marsupials, which can designate a young kangaroo as well as a baby koala, opossum, or wombat.
The couple are currently caring for seven giant kangaroos, Macropus giganteus their scientific name, or eastern gray kangaroo. Despite their name, there’s nothing giant about them — they measure between 1.5 and 1.8 meters when fully grown — and their build is less imposing than that of their cousin, the red kangaroo.
It’s time to feed them and Lorita takes us into the sheet metal enclosure where the kangaroos live. In the middle of dense vegetation, she places the bottles in small metal cylinders fixed to a large wooden beam, at the height of the little marsupials. Hungry, they rush around her.
Number of animals killed, injured or displaced during the fires
Since the kangaroos are all only a few months old, their food is still liquid, says Lorita Baumann, who gives them marsupial milk replacer, which is rich in all the nutrients they need to thrive.
“In the wild, a kangaroo can live for about 7 to 10 years. They reach maturity fairly quickly, around six months, and that’s when they are released,” says her husband.
Meanwhile, the young kangaroos bask in “pockets” of sheets suspended from a wooden structure, installed to recreate the maternal pocket. They also stretch their legs in the large area surrounded by fences at the back of their refuge.
“I consider myself a bit like their mom,” Lorita says, casting her affectionate gaze on the animals. She says she is able to tell them apart from each other, by their traits and personalities. To help herself all the same, she affixes a small touch of varnish to them, each of a different color, on one of their claws.
“I have rebellious kangaroo children who never come back to say hello. But many come to see me. And that fills me with happiness”, says Lorita, who pinches herself every day to live near this fauna that she wants, on her own scale, to help preserve.
Indeed, she and her spouse are motivated by a deep conviction. “We have to be more careful with the animals that live around us,” pleads the latter. “We also need to do more on climate change, because not enough is being done right now. It is because of this inaction that large fires occur, which among other things threaten Australia’s unique biodiversity. »
This report was financed thanks to the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund.The duty.