Alocal wildlife rescuer has made the difficult decision to cut back on the wildlife care she has been undertaking in the Limestone Coast region for the last three years.


Mount Gambier Wildlife Carer Facebook page administrator Julia Dangerfield told her 6000 followers of the decision through a post on the social media site last week that received over 70 comments and nearly 500 reactions.


Ms Dangerfield said she will now only be able to assist with bats, kangaroos, wallabies, koalas and wombats.


“In the future I am going to focus on just a few species of animal, as I am just unable to do them all like I have been doing,” she said.


“It has been a very hard choice to make but something has to give or I would not be able to continue with wildlife caring.


“I will no longer be able to assist with possums, birds, reptiles etc.


“I have picked species to continue with that I am most equipped to rescue and care for, that tend to be very specialised with only a handful of people able to assist with them in the Limestone Coast.


“It is not that I do not want to help everything but it is just becoming an impossible task.


“The species I am opting to no longer rescue/care for tend to be species that are easier to handle, and often people are able to take them directly to vets themselves or it takes little resources for other rescuers to deal with.”


Ms Dangerfield said she answered 250 calls, texts and messages for injured, orphaned or distressed wildlife across the Limestone Coast from August until now and spent over $600 of petrol attending to the calls in January alone.


“It is too many calls for one person to handle,” she said.


“I do have help, and I really appreciate them all, however a majority of having to answer the phones, offer advice, organise rescues and attending rescues does fall back onto me.


“Over spring and the start of summer I am lucky to be getting 4-5 hours of broken sleep a day, as even when I am trying to sleep I am still constantly answering calls.


“As well as a lack of sleep and lack of time, the financial implications of rescuing and caring for that many animals is enormous.


“Please be aware if you encounter injured/distressed wildlife, you can drop it into any local vet free of charge.”


Followers praised Ms Dangerfield’s decision with one commenting they were not surprised of the decision.


“Those who have had to shoulder the burden of running an organisation where saying no means an animal might die would understand what a toll it takes and how eventually you cannot keep going without full time support or infrastructure,” the comment read.


“I hope you do not feel you are letting the animals down because you have done so much more than most other people do in a lifetime.


“I hope you take good care of yourself now.”