Trilby’s story

A remarkable story about ‘Trilby’, an Eastern Grey kangaroos we had in care…

Trilby is an Eastern Grey Kangaroo. Trilby came into care rescued by a caring local farmer. He found Trilby walking his farm paddocks checking a boundary. Sadly, Trilby’s mum had got herself caught in a fence and had passed away. Trilby a just furred joey was found beside her mum on the ground with hypothermia and was very stressed and unwell.

Trilby was taken to a local vet and assessed. Fortunately, a vet nurse on shift has been an experienced wildlife carer and was able to facilitate Trilby coming into our care. Trilby’s care was supported by the Gippsland Veterinary Group and Wildlife Victoria’s Travelling Vet Service. She was treated for an e-coli infection that was manifesting as nasty diahorrea and conjunctivitis.

However, with wonderful support from the vets and carers Trilby recovered. Trilby was comforted with a dummy when she first arrived at care, and she was particularly adept at ‘fetching’ it and mouthing it back into place. Trilby learnt the basics of being a kangaroo joey in care at BWC and as she gained strength and recovered from her illnesses, we began searching for a buddy for her to grow up with. It is important that this search considers where Trilby was rescued from as this becomes an important factor for her release.

Trilby settled in well, she adapted to the new spaces and quickly learnt that a bigger space means… zoomies! Sharing resources across wildlife carers is valuable, as we are more likely to be able to offer best practice for rehabilitation. Trilby spent several months learning how to interact with her species ‘siblings’ and gaining confidence in her movements.

Trilby’s rehabilitation through spaces that matched her stages of development, reinforces why it is so important to be able to access grants for the bigger infrastructure that our wildlife need to successfully reach their forever homes.

The next phase for Trilby’s rehabilitation involved considering how to manage the stress of transition. We are thinking about things like, what noise and smells can we control in a transfer, what can we give Trilby to make her transfer calmer and how do we introduce her to her new carers and buddy (buddies) etc. Naturally the dummy had to go with her, as did her favorite big snuggly pouch, bottle teats and feed.

The tearjerker moment….

Trilby has been released into the wild for many months. However, recently she returned to the care room door looking to gain entry on the property that she matured on. Surprised and concerned that something was wrong for her to be back, her carer opened the door and Trilby came inside. Trilby was hunched over, and fluid was seeping from her lower abdomen. Trilby had come back for a little extra support as she GAVE BIRTH to her first joey. Magic. This moment was captured on video with no dry eyes. Trilby is doing well, and her joey is growing, unseen yet but a joey ‘bump’ is visible.

Trilby is returning sometimes, usually evenings now, probably seeking out that little bit of extra security. In time we are confident that she will find the bush as her safe place, but for now we are all thrilled that her second chance at life has in turn given further life.