Career first for wildlife rescuer

A TWO-DAY rescue effort has ended successfully for a stray emu on the Great Ocean Road thanks to a coordinated approach from an experienced local wildlife rescuer.

Jason Cichocki of Surf Coast Wildlife Rescue was called by a concerned driver to a report of a wandering emu on the Great Ocean Road in front of the Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery based in Anglesea.

“It was a first because we don’t have a wild population of emus here on the Surf Coast,” Mr Cichocki said.

“It is also likely that this particular emu was either somebody’s pet or lived on somebody’s property, which we have not confirmed as of yet.”

Upon arrival Mr Cichocki was able to usher the emu off the Great Ocean Road and then down Forest Road. It then decided to make its great escape into the valley of the Great Otway National Park.

Mr Cichocki searched two hours for the animal before coming to the realisation that someone would report another sighting sooner rather than later. He was correct.

One of the rescuer’s more well-known callers in Brent Stokes sighted the emu two days later.

From there, a safety perimeter was set up by Parks Victoria officers that arrived on scene and Mr Cichocki, a registered tranquilliser, sedated the bird before relocating it.

“These animals are not easy to catch, especially when you’ve never caught one before,” Mr Cichocki said.

“They have that big toe, which is comparable to that of a velociraptor, so you have to be very careful with how you catch these birds.

“To put it simply, we had a team of five to safely apprehend the bird. Myself, three Parks Victoria officers and a member of the public, Kylie Powell. It took a great team effort to keep her safe and now she is in a safe environment.”

The emu was relocated to the Bellbrae Country Club last Monday, given the country club is one of the few organisations in the region that can safely care for and monitor the large flightless bird.

The country club already has two emus in its possession along with 25 eggs.

The new addition to Bellbrae is adjusting well and has successfully integrated with the other two emus according to manager Esta Henry.

“A couple months ago we bought an older male and female emu for the country club, so the main thing with adding a third bird to the group was going to be the pecking order, however she’s fitting in well and everything is going smoothly,” Ms Henry said.

“She’s quite tame so it makes it easier for us to pat her and feed her.”We have already named her Feta too.”

If anyone sees native wildlife across the shire which is believed to be at risk, contact Jason of Surf Coast Wildlife Rescue at 0422 048 557.