Wildlife hospital ready to open doors

STAFF at Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital are preparing to treat their first patients, with the state-of-the-art Wollongbar facility set to open any day.

Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital founding board member, veterinarian Dr Megan Kearney, said she was excited to begin treating sick, injured and orphaned wildlife as soon as the organisation received an occupancy certificate from Ballina Shire Council.

The hospital, which features a surgery, an intensive care ward and two other wards, is a passion project for Dr Kearney, who also runs Vitality Vetcare in Bangalow.

Her final project when she completed her Master of Veterinary Studies in conservation medicine at Murdoch University in 2018 was on the feasibility of opening a bricks and mortar wildlife hospital in the region.

“I’ve been treating wildlife in the Northern Rivers since 2007 and it became apparent during the droughts, bushfires and floods that we desperately needed to have a dedicated wildlife hospital,” she said. “We’re an area of high biodiversity.”

The hospital will provide veterinary care for up to 5,000 native animals per year, with about 60 per cent estimated to be birds, 20 to 25 per cent mammals such as possums, wallabies and flying foxes, and 15 to 20 per cent reptiles and amphibians.

Dr Kearney hopes to work with other organisations including Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital, which is based at Byron Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, and Friends of the Koala’s Northern Rivers Koala Hospital at Lismore.

The hospital will also act as a hub for rescue groups such as WIRES Northern Rivers, Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers and Australian Seabird & Turtle Rescue at Ballina.

“Nearly 14,000 wild animals are rescued in the region each year so there’s a lot of animals to care for,” Dr Kearney said.

An official grand opening event will be held in the coming weeks.

For more information and to donate, visit nrwh.com.au