The king of the Surf Coast jungle

It’s no secret Jason Cichocki has a glowing reputation on the Surf Coast, but in speaking with the man locals call the “wildlife warrior”, it’s clear the accolades have never been his motivator.

Jason’s journey to becoming a wildlife rescuer began eight years ago when he was witness to a kangaroo that had been struck by a car.

It was this moment of chance that would remind him of his early years living amongst Australian animals, who he says are “so receptive to love”.

“He was a big boy, and the only person who we could call on who was capable of dealing with it was David Burrell from Leopold Wildlife Shelter,” he said.

“He came out and he started to perform the rescue, but he had poor health and he actually had an asthma attack about halfway through the rescue and so I performed the rest of it under his guidance.

“He was quite amazed at how well I did and said I was a natural so he asked me to come and he would teach me everything he knew.”

But his affection for living creatures can be traced back to his childhood.

Growing up on a horse rescue property in central Victoria, Jason and his twin brother Dale would sit in the middle of the bush and wait for the animals to slowly creep out from their hiding places, all the while gazing at nature’s resplendent beauty.

“We’ve always been a family that have loved and looked after animals as much as we could, but then as life took over and I started entering the workforce, I lost a fair bit of connection with that side of my life,” he said.

“Once I found myself in front of that poor kangaroo that needed my help, that brought it all back and got me where I am today.”

On top of his responsibilities as a father and business owner (Southwest Automotive Services), Jason’s phone rings between 10-15 times a week from callers concerned about an animal in trouble.

During the holiday season, Surf Coast Wildlife Rescue can receive this number of calls per day.

Jason credits his rescue success rate to these callers, and says they’re the inaugural link in the rescue chain.

“The first part of the chain for a wildlife rescue is that person who sees an animal and realises it needs help and takes the action to call us. Without those people doing that, we couldn’t do what we do.

“It’s a chain of events that leads to an animal being rescued and we as rescuers are one small part of that chain.”

Just last Friday, Jason reunited a baby wallaby with its mother who had been seen hopping around central Torquay at about midday.

Jason, who completed his chemical immobilisation training with Alphadog AnimalArmy Inc’s Marcus Fillinger last October, sedated the mother wallaby before it was transported to its baby and released into the bush.

He described this particular rescue (which took several hours) as “special” and offered his thanks to his long-time supporters.

“There’s so many people behind what I do. From Kate Gittings at Torquay and Surf Coast Vet Clinic whose backed me right from the start, to Marcus whose trained me to do the tranquilising and my whole rescue team who were behind me yesterday (the day of the rescue) while there were several other rescues the rest of my team took on.

“My beautiful partner Remedios and my two boys who are just as much as involved in wildlife rescue as I am. I’ll rescue an animal and take it home and my partner and the two boys jump in the car, no matter what time of the day or night, and drive it to the nearest carer.

“It’s a team effort, and although my name is usually the one that everyone talks about on Facebook, the reality is it takes a big team to be able to rescue each and every animal. I couldn’t do this without the input of all those people.”

Kate, whose owned the Torquay and Surfcoast Veterinary Clinics practice since 2011, said without Jason’s tireless efforts, a number of wildlife would’ve been left to suffer an untimely fate.

“His compassion and commitment to our local fauna, giving his time 24/7, 365 days a year, relying only on donations or out of his own pocket to attend sick or injured animals is unequalled.

“My appreciation and gratitude to his dedication is matched by all in our region.”

What’s impressed Jason most since he started is the shift in people’s attitudes towards the local wildlife population.

“It’s been absolutely wonderful to watch from the time I started rescuing to now, the massive swing in the community’s attitude towards the animals.

“I would say a large majority of the Surf Coast community care about the animals around them and are quite willing to do something and be proactive whenever they see an animal who needs help.”

When asked how he felt about so many people lauding him for his dedication to wildlife rescue, Jason said the only acknowledgement he wanted was knowing his number was saved in his neighbours’ phones.

“My main focus is the animals. I don’t do this for recognition of any sort, the recognition has been secondary.

“As long as people call me when they find an animal that needs help, that’s all I’m worried about.

“I’m nobody special, I’m just like everybody else. Anybody is capable of rescuing an animal, all you need to do is care and get off your bum and do it.”