Yolandi Vermaak nurses a wombat back to health at her Canberra home. Concern is mounting for those being rehabilitated in the bush after the theft of tracking cameras. Photo: Supplied.
Two cameras, designed to monitor the health of wombats recovering in the wild, have been stolen from Denman Prospect, jeopardising the lives of the vulnerable marsupials.
ACT Wombat Rescue’s Yolandi Vermaak said the cameras were taken on Monday, 30 September, including one that was specifically monitoring a seriously ill wombat with mange.
She said the cameras were focused on the burrows so that when the data was retrieved, volunteers could see how the animals were doing.
Two cameras, which are helping volunteers save the lives of sick wombats like this one with mange, have been stolen from sites at Denman Prospect. Photo: ACT Wombat Rescue.
The cameras had also been arranged, Ms Vermaak said, so the animals with mange were separated from the others so the whole population was not affected.
“These cameras are no use to anyone else but us,” she said.
“I don’t know why people would want to take them. The straps on these look to be just cut off.
“It is very important that we get these cameras back – or at least the cards inside them so we have the data.
“They really are not valuable at all,” she said. “They’ve been out in the elements – they even have ACT Wombat Rescue on them so people would know what they’re for – and they’re facing the burrows.”
They might not be valuable as cameras, but they are crucial to the well-being of the marsupials because they provide volunteers with valuable information on how their health is progressing, if otherwise healthy animals are in trouble, or other issues that may impair their return to the wild.
Ms Vermaak said this was not the first time such cameras had been taken. It happened some weeks ago, but after putting a call out, they were returned. It turned out a group of children had taken them, but the cameras had recorded exactly what they’d done so they would have been found out anyway.
Life-saving wombat surveillance cameras have been cut from these bands at Denman Prospect sites, putting the lives of the ailing animals further at risk. Photo: ACT Wombat Rescue.
“The cameras are valued at around $300 each,” she said.
“We will have to find this money to replace the cameras if they’re not returned – and this money could have been used to help pay vet bills.”
She said it was always a busy time for wombat rescue carers – she had seven in her home at the moment and volunteers were monitoring about 20 in the field across Canberra.
“Please, if you know anything, can the cameras be returned? If passers-by do see a camera in place, they are doing essential work and have no other purpose or value.”
She asked anyone with information to call ACT Wombat Rescue on 0424 935 989.
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