Drivers are being reminded to contact wildlife rescuers immediately if they come across injured animals after a horrifying discovery on the side of the road. WIRES volunteer Inga Tiere got a call about an animal hit by a car — but what she discovered was a scene far more disturbing.
Tiere arrived at the destination of the callout on the outskirts of Sydney on Boxing Day to find a deceased male swamp wallaby with its testicles removed. She suspects the shocking act was motivated by “trophy hunters” who take parts of animals as a keepsake with Tiere telling Yahoo News Australia the act is “not uncommon at all.”
“When I saw it from a distance I thought it was a female, but when I got closer I realised what had happened,” she told Yahoo. Her reaction to the grisly scene in the Wollondilly area, southwest of Sydney, was disbelief.
“It’s just sick,” she said, adding “It’s very shocking”. The wildlife rescuer said that it’s something that she’s come across before, describing the suspected phenomenon as “not uncommon at all”.
“If you do see an animal hit by a car dead or alive, call WIRES immediately,” she pleaded with Aussies.
Disturbing native wildlife trophy trend ‘resurfacing’
After 11 years as a wildlife volunteer, Tiere has witnessed some disheartening scenes on the side of Aussie roads, including “three or four” suspected mutilation events just this year.
“It seems to be resurfacing,” she said, having previously spoken to Yahoo about a similar incident in 2020. “They take the scrotums and take the ears, and on occasions, they chop a leg or tail off. It is in most cases, people take it home for dog food.”
The body parts of kangaroo, including scrotum pouches, are widely available for sale in markets, souvenir shops and online. But it’s something that Tiere disagrees with. “The amount of animal parts you can buy is actually shocking,” she said, adding “It’s absolutely disgusting.”
Tiere has reminded Aussies that cruelty against animals is punishable with “high” fines and “potential jail time” and native animals are protected by the government. In NSW, where this suspected incident took place, fines for individuals go as high as $22,00 and jail terms are up to five years.
Wildlife group Devils at Cradle find roadkill incidents double during summer after a spotted-tail quail was found in November. Source: Facebook/Devils at Cradle
Millions of native animals die on Aussie roads
Wildlife deaths on roads nationwide are an all too common problem with an estimated 10 million animals dying on Aussie roads every year, according to the University of Melbourne.
It’s believed that summer is even worse for road deaths, with Devils at Cradle wildlife group, Renee Dodd previously telling Yahoo News roadkills “double this time of year”.
“It tends to be this time of year that we do see the road kill numbers increase, and it’s largely because there’s a lot of younger animals entering the population who are obviously not good at navigating the roads,” Dodd said.
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