If you’re out on the roads this summer, chances are you might see some wildlife on your travels.

Many of us will also be familiar with the sad but common sight of injured or dead animals by the side of the road. If this is the case, there are some simple but important steps you can take to help protect our wildlife and improve our understanding of current or emerging disease patterns.

Road sign in rural area showing kangaroo, emu and echidna. Sign says: Caution wildlife in this area — Reporting sick or injured wildlife can improve our knowledge of population management, biodiversity conservation and disease threats. Picture: Getty Images

Across Australia, there are networks of wildlife carers, rescuers and members of the public who find, collect and transport sick, injured or orphaned wildlife to veterinary practitioners.

These animals (typically possums, kangaroos, koalas, wombats, birds or lizards) can then be triaged and, if their state of health allows it, rehabilitated to be released back where they came from.

This is an important practice in order to protect the welfare of Australian wildlife as much as possible.

It’s also an increasingly complex task and requires close collaboration between organisations like Zoos Victoria, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), Agriculture Victoria, Wildlife Health Australia, and the Melbourne Veterinary School at the University of Melbourne.

Of course there are also many cases where dead or very sick wildlife are brought in to be examined or euthanised for animal welfare reasons.

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This is equally important, as dead wildlife can teach us a lot about population management, biodiversity conservation, and the biosecurity of food and farm or companion animals.

It can also be helpful in tracking and managing human health issues, as some diseases are ‘zoonotic’ meaning they can spread from animals to people, sometimes via mosquitos, ticks or other vectors.

A large proportion of Australian wildlife is endemic (meaning these species are found only in Australia). However, around 20 per cent of Australia’s mammals, 14 per cent of amphibians, five per cent of reptiles and one per cent of fish are currently threatened with extinction. The spread of disease contributes to this threat.

Because many wildlife mortality (death) or morbidity (sickness) events go unreported, we still have limited baseline knowledge of diseases that are affecting wildlife species.

Women feeding koala from a syringe — A large proportion of Australian wildlife is endemic, meaning these species are found only in Australia. Picture: Getty Images

That’s why Wildlife Health Victoria’s Surveillance program was established in 2008. This program identifies and monitors diseases in free-ranging wildlife populations and is constantly improving our understanding of new and emerging disease threats.

The program surveys mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians across Victoria, and is modelled on the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, a collaboration established between environment, agriculture and health agencies in 1990.

For wildlife health and disease surveillance, we focus on diagnosing causes of sickness or death, identifying the presence of any viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa or other internal and external parasites, as well as detecting the presence of toxic contaminants that may be harmful to the environment.

We also look for any patterns of disease which differ from the ‘normal’ baseline information we have.

There are many reasons why increased levels of disease may be seen in our wildlife. In some cases, disease may be related to infections brought to Australia by animals introduced during colonisation.

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For example, the presence of chlamydia in koalas can probably be attributed to transmission of the disease from sheep, cattle or pigs, and the scabies-causing Sarcoptes scabiei mites in wombats and koalas are likely introduced from foxes and dogs.

Habitat loss and degradation may increase stress in wildlife, due to factors like food shortages, increased predation or lack of other essential resources. This can then affect an animal’s ability to raise an effective immune response and make them more susceptible to getting or spreading infectious diseases.

In addition, wildlife are directly exposed to the many human-made pollutants found in our environment, the negative impacts of which can be direct or indirect, for example by affecting the immune system or their ability to reproduce.

This means that wildlife can act as a sentinel (‘canary in the coal mine’) for environmental pollution which is relevant to human health.

Woman's hand stroking baby kangaroo wrapped in a green towel — Animal and wildlife health is closely connected to our own. Picture: Getty Images

Often wildlife are exposed to several hazards which can compound health impacts.

Animals that are sick and slow may be more likely to be hit by a car or become prey for other animals. They may have reduced genetic diversity and even lower resilience to climate change-related events like drought, fire and floods.

Our role in protecting animals is enormous, and our shared need for healthy ecosystems, including water, food and healthy habitats to live in means the health of our animals and wildlife is closely connected with our own. This concept is known as ‘One Health’.

So understanding animal health can therefore help us provide a much fuller picture of broader human, environmental and ecological issues.

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However, humans are a very dominant species, with humans and livestock making up 96 per cent of the biomass of all mammals on earth, leaving only 4 per cent for wild mammals. This makes our responsibility to ensure the welfare of our wildlife even greater.

So, if you’re travelling across Victoria this summer and spot an animal in trouble, the most helpful thing you can do is report it straight away.

If an animal is injured, this tool from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action can help you contact the closest wildlife carers and rehabilitation organisations. If an individual animal is sick or already deceased, alert Wildlife Health Victoria’s Surveillance program.

At present, Australia is also preparing for the potential arrival of highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu), which has led to massive disease and death events in birds and mammals overseas.

If you observe unusual illness or death in wild birds (five or more dead birds of any species, or any individual seabird, waterbird, shorebird or bird of prey), you should report these directly to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline, which is staffed 24/7 (1800 675 888). In Victoria, you can also report via 136 186 during business hours.

Just by doing this, you can make a huge difference in improving our understanding of Australia's wildlife health and increasing the detection of new or changing disease patterns affecting our animals and environments.

This article was first published on Pursuit. Read the original article.

Ms

Pam Whiteley

Research Assistant (Wildlife Health Surveillance)

Melbourne Veterinary School

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