THE FIFTH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CONFERENCE
WILL BE HELD IN PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, IN SEPTEMBER 2007
We hope to see wildlife rehabilitators and animal health professionals from all over Australia in Perth for the Fifth National Wildlife Rehabilitation Conference.  The Perth Conference is still in the initial planning stages.  If you have an idea for a paper and would like some assistance, until we have a formal 2007 Organising Committee up and running, you can contact the Society for help or a referral to someone who may be able to give you a hand.  If you would like to be on the Committee, help out or offer sponsorship and support for the 2007 Conference, please contact us!


THE FOURTH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CONFERENCE
WILL BE HELD IN DARWIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY, IN 2006
Visit http://www.nwrc.com.au for more information.


THE THIRD NATIONAL WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CONFERENCE
SURFERS' PARADISE, QUEENSLAND, 2005


From 30 August through to 2 September 2005, I was fortunate enough to attend the third National Wildlife Rehabilitation Conference, hosted by our esteemed colleagues from the rehabilitation community in Queensland.  My thanks to the Society for the Preservation of Raptors (Inc), the Queensland Organising Committee and the International Fund for Animal Welfare for their kind sponsorship, without which I would not have been able to participate.

The Pre-Conference registration and dinner kicked things off on Tuesday evening, with MC Adrian Caneris recounting an hilarious story about his rehabilitation and eventual release of a young and somewhat confused magpie goose.  A great deal of networking took place.


The conference venue was the Holiday Inn hotel in View Street, Surfers' Paradise.  Between the hard working conference organisers and the very professional staff at the Holiday Inn, the three day event went almost seamlessly, with the one hiccup being a short delay while a recalcitrant 200+MB PowerPoint presentation crashed the computer.

Surfers’ Paradise seemed to me to be very much a concrete jungle, which I found somewhat stressful on a personal level, however once out of the concrete I was able to enjoy an extremely interesting post conference visit to the wildlife hospital at Currumbin Sanctuary thanks to veterinary surgeon Dr Michael Pyne.  I spent my last day in Queensland with friends who showed me the newly constructed Osprey stack at the Southport Bridge, and on my homeward trip to Brisbane, I was able to identify a Spotted Harrier, a Black Shouldered Kite and two Kestrels.

A number of veterinarians presented papers and talks on subjects such as Psittacine Beak and Feather Virus, Bird Rehabilitation, Euthanasia, Tetany in Hand Reared Brushtail Possums, The Vet Visit (building relationships with vets) and infectious diseases.  A particular highlight for me was the talk following my own (which dealt with the dry topic of Application of Standards) by Dr Peter McKinley, a veterinarian who has just moved back to Australia after five years working with raptors and other wildlife in Dubai.

It is heartening to see so many animal health professionals taking an active interest in our wildlife.  In the past, veterinarians have had little, if any opportunity to avail themselves of information and education in the areas of avian and wildlife medicine, and it is good to see that this is changing.  It was especially positive to see a veterinary surgeon stand up during the panel discussion and push for more education opportunities for vets (he received an extremely enthusiastic round of applause.)

It is encouraging to see that Queensland rehabilitators now have a state body, the Queensland Wildlife Rehabilitation Council, which was formed this year.  New South Wales is in the process of electing their committee for the NSW Wildlife Rehabilitation Council.  The Victorians are taking names for the Victorian Wildlife Rehabilitation Council and the Western Australians are almost at the stage where we will be forming a steering committee for the soon to be formed WA Wildlife Rehabilitation Council.  State bodies will eventually send representatives to the Australian National Wildlife Rehabilitation Council, a national peak body which will provide a voice for rehabilitators at Federal level.  We live in interesting – and very exciting – times.

One recurring theme arose which was of some concern:  Queensland's urban koala populations are under a very real and increasing threat from aggressive development.  Rehabilitators are working tirelessly to try and save urban koala populations, but they may well be fighting a losing battle.  If this battle is lost, it will be to the detriment of ordinary Queenslanders who are fortunate enough to be living with wildlife, for now.

It is a truism that the rehabilitation of an individual animal has very little to no impact on conservation of a species in the majority of cases (small, managed endangered species populations being the obvious exception) however it is becoming increasingly apparent that the role of rehabilitation in conservation is far more subtle, having a socio-political, rather than a direct ecological impact.

If we wish to conserve wildlife, we must conserve environment.  Rehabilitators fill an important educational niche in society, often acting as intermediaries between the scientific community and the larger community.  Conservation is rarely, if ever achieved purely because our leaders become aware of the contents of scientific papers.  Politicians facilitate change only when the voter demand for change overrides the existing status quo.  Voters – the wider community – demand change when they become aware of issues, and the community is educated in regard to those issues by the popular media, by community discussion, and by community education.

The other important way in which rehabilitation contributes to conservation is in the area of captive breeding of endangered species.  Through on-going work with common species, rehabilitators gain important skills in native animal husbandry.  Through the actions of members of the public, rehabilitators also come into possession of individuals from less common, and sometimes endangered species, which can then be used in breeding programmes.  An example of this is the Bilby breeding programme at Kanyana in Western Australia and the Western Barred Bandicoot programme, currently on hold while veterinarians and the Department of Conservation attempt to resolve a viral issue.  A wart problem, which was thought to have originated in the captive breeding population, is now thought to have come from one of island populations involved in the project. (Butcher, 2005)

The next conference will be held in the Northern Territory, and the 2007 conference will be in Western Australia.  Conference hosts for 2008 and onward are yet to be determined but there are some very interesting rumours doing the rounds.

Conference proceedings will be available on line at the NWRC website once the papers have all been formatted for download at –

  http://www.nwrc.com.au




Nancy Tang
SPR Sponsored Delegate



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