A heartbreaking scene unfolded in Woodford on Monday when two baby ringtail possums were found clinging to their dead mother in the middle of a road.
Tiffany Robinson found the possum family on Kauri Court Road on her way to work. Unable to help them, she took to Facebook, posting a picture and a plea onto the Woodford Community Information Page.
“Please someone come grab these little babies on their mumma who has passed on, idk (I don’t know) what to do and I’m late for work,” she posted.
Her image showed the babies still trying to cuddle their late mum, sparking angry comments from the Facebook audience about similar incidents in the area.
She then did an online search for local wildlife carers and found Leonie Jifkins. Ms Robinson then called her mother who promptly arrived, wrapped the surviving possums in a towel and took them to Ms Jifkins for care.
The wildlife carer of nearly 50 years said the “little boy and little girl” were now in good condition and doing well, other than struggling to take to the bottle to be fed.
“I am making sure they are getting enough to survive,” she said.
“They are in shock and traumatised and will take a couple of days to learn and to settle.”
The Villeneuve resident said she would start feeding them flowers and leaf tips until they are big enough to be released.
“I keep them until they are about 1kg – they are about 100 grams now,” she said.
“Then I soft-release them … I put them into an area that is safe and they are fed until they are able to care for themselves.”
As soon as the babies were dropped off, Ms Jifkins said she got another call out.
“When they arrived, I settled them down, put them on a heater pack and got a bottle ready,” she said.
“Then I had to go straight out and euthanise a poor joey, with the help from a man from Wildcare.
“The joey had been hit by a car and had its leg ripped off. That all happened before 8.30am. It was an awful, traumatic day.”
While Ms Jifkins was happy the babies had survived, she said it was an incident that shouldn’t have happened.
“This situation makes me feel angry,” she said.
“I have been a wildlife carer on this Coast for 50 years – and the older I get, the angrier I am getting.
“I haven’t seen any change, people are still not aware and it’s sad.”
She believes the possum family was hit deliberately.
“That poor possum was in the middle of the road and ringtails don’t move too quick,” said Ms Jifkins, who is also known as Leonie the Wildlife Carer.
“Her head was smashed in, which meant she died instantly – thank god – and with her babies still on her back. The driver didn’t even try to swerve, they just kept going.
“It is a silver lining for them though, they are beautiful little babies.
“Unfortunately, that picture sums up the carnage on our roads and that people have just left the baby possums there to die.”
She urged people to watch out for wildlife, especially at dawn and on dusk.
“People need to be more aware of their habitats, feeding times and movement times,” she said.
“Drive accordingly and if you find an injured animal, do exactly what Tiffany did.
“Please also support your local wildlife carers, we are volunteers and need help too.”
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