By Mikayla van Loon
In the wake of the Montrose bushfire wildlife rescuers and environmentalists are awaiting the all clear to assess the damage and assist animals in need of treatment.
Mount Evelyn Environment Protection and Progress Association (MEEPPA) president Clare Worsnop said a major concern was loss of hollow-bearing trees and the continued heat penetrating the ground as smouldering and hotspots continue.
With a known mated pair of Powerful Owls, a threatened species, calling the Dr Ken Leversha Reserve home and who welcomed twins this breeding season, Ms Worsnop said the hope is the young had already flown the hollow.
“We still don’t know whether Mr and Mrs Owl have been impacted, or whether they suffered mortal wounds or not, hopefully they’ve flown away,” she said.
The broader impact on this key habitat reserve could be quite severe but rescuers won’t know until the fire is fully extinguished.
“The wildlife carers will be going in there when they can, but it’s got to be safe and apparently the fires are still burning on the ground and a lot of trees are falling down,” Ms Worsnop said.
“They will definitely be trying to get in to rescue any animals they can and care for them, because they can have severe burns and if they left, it’s just very painful for them, and they can die from it, through getting infections.
“But if they could be caught and assessed and treated, sometimes they’ll recover quite well.
“That’s where the role of our carers comes in, and it’s important for them to be able to get access quite quickly, to protect whatever creatures they can and give them that chance, because watching them horribly burn their little hands and feet means they can’t hop around, they can’t get food.”
Ms Worsnop said aside from the burns themselves, a lack of food and dehydration would be a secondary cause of death to the animals stuck in the reserve.
“It sounds like it was pretty ferocious and pretty hot…it will seriously affect the wildlife initially,” she said.
“A lot of animals will go underground, like wombats, wallabies will even go into wombat boroughs to escape it but a lot of things can’t get away.
“All the little native bush rats and snakes and lizards and things like that have no way of escaping. The birds may fly and there is greenery further afield, whether they can stay there or not, because it’s someone else’s territory, but they can fly to other spots if it’s not too far.”
Because of the loss of habitat and food sources, Ms Worsnop said there’ll likely be movement of birds and animals into different local bush areas.
But given how territorial animals can be, this may not be a long term solution.
“In the case of the owls, if they have to move, they will probably find somewhere to be, but they wouldn’t be able to make it a core area. It will be just somewhere where they could roost and feed until their area is back, but it’ll take several years for them to come back.
“Everything’s got its territory, and everywhere is taken. That’s how nature keeps it in check and balance. So the creatures that own the area and the ones that have lost their homes, they’re going to fight to keep them out because there’s only so much food, and that’s where the issue happens for the wildlife.
“They don’t have anywhere else to go. They can’t just jump in a car and drive off to the next suburb and rent a motel.”
With trees continuing to fall because of the unstable ground, Ms Worsnop said that “might ultimately become habitat for something else” but it will take years for the site to replenish.
“It may take several years before the regrowth comes back, and there’s enough food and shelter for those critters that have lost their homes,” she said.
“The loss of habitat, for what was living in it, especially if the big, old trees with hollows, those ones won’t exist anymore, and that will also have an impact on the future of the wildlife there, and it will take many years for it to totally regenerate.
“You’ll probably see new growth in it coming up, but to replace a tree that’s big enough that hollows for birds and possums takes, 100 years, 150 years, those trees aren’t going to be replaced in our lifetime.”
Ms Worsnop said groups like MEEPA will be monitoring the reserve over the next 12 months to understand how food is regenerating and which animals return.
“As long as there’s enough water and enough food, a lot of the animals will survive, but a lot of them will need care.”
Wildlife rescuers like the Bungalook Creek Wildlife Shelter are prepared to respond, asking residents in and around the area to contact the shelter if they sight any injured wildlife.
“If you are local and see injured wildlife please let us know, we have vets on standby ready to help,” they posted to social media.
Having lived through a similar bushfire situation in Sydney, Ms Worsnop said she knows the fear that comes with being evacuated and she extends her gratitude to all the firefighters.
“I’d just like to say thank you to the firies, who did all that incredible work, because they risk their lives as well when they go out and fight these fires…and wish a speedy recovery for everybody who’s been directly impacted.”
