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Wildlife sanctuaries, zoos and animal hospitals are being crippled by the coronavirus, with the ban on gatherings robbing them of the funds needed to feed the animals and retain staff.
Key points:
- Funding for most wildlife sanctuaries and zoos is through paid visitor entries, which have stopped with coronavirus restrictions
- Wildlife sanctuaries and zoos need thousands of dollars a month to keep feeding the animals
- The usual fundraising efforts that keep many places running are no longer an option
The Fraser Coast Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland's Wide Bay region is run by volunteers, cares for 300 animals and now has no way to pay for their food, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic restrictions.
Sanctuary liaison officer David Trigg told ABC Wide Bay the sanctuary was "doing it pretty tough".
"As you know, with COVID-19, the Government has shut everything down, so, all our funding is through [visitor] entries to the sanctuary, which has completely dried up," he said.
It is the same for many other wildlife carers, animal hospitals and zoos.
Luckily for Ian Jenkins, from the Snakes Down Under Reptile Park and Zoo at Childers near Bundaberg, crocodiles do not need to eat very often.
"They've got a very slow metabolic rate, so not a lot of feed there," he said.
"Thank goodness we don't have any large carnivores, as in tigers and lions and so on."
But all the hundreds of other animals, from kangaroos to dingoes and snakes, need feeding.
"Fed and watered and looked after and the general upkeep of their welfare — it all, unfortunately, costs money," Mr Jenkins said.
Mr Jenkins told ABC Wide Bay he also had to lay off four staff.
"We've been closed for over three weeks now, without any staff," he said.
On top of that, he said the park had just welcomed new animals, including a giant monitor lizard originating from Indonesia.
"[We've] just spent a small fortune on Komodo dragon exhibits and tree kangaroo exhibits and then all of a sudden — no income — so that's a bit of a shock to the system," he said.
He said he might be able to bring two staff back with the Federal Government's JobKeeper payments, but the bills were mounting.
"Some Government assistance along those lines would be really, really helpful for the whole industry," Mr Jenkins said.
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Volunteers spend stimulus on food for animals
Volunteers at the Fraser Coast Wildlife Sanctuary are still coming in to feed the animals.
But Mr Trigg does not know where the sanctuary would find the thousands of dollars a month needed to keep feeding the animals.
He said he and many of the other volunteers spent their $750 Federal Government stimulus payment on food for the animals.
"The Government has given us that money and told us to spend it to keep the economy going, so we can't think of a better place to spend it than here," Mr Trigg said.
The sanctuary has asked for donations on their Facebook page too, hoping the community will come to the rescue.
Zoos considering closing altogether
The Darling Downs Zoo has also been forced to close and is reportedly considering having to offload animals unless there is some sort of lifeline.
With big carnivores such as lions and many other large so-called "game" animals, the zoo was struggling to feed them.
The operators set up a crowdfunding page which had raised more than $9,000 out of a target of $60,000.
Meanwhile, a zoo in Germany released a list of the animals it would prioritise in a "worst-case scenario" of having to feed some animals to the others.
Animal hospitals in need
Australia's wildlife hospitals and refuges are feeling the effects of COVID-19 shutdowns too.
The Currumbin Wildlife Hospital on the Gold Coast is still taking about 30 new animal patients each day.
Among them are a black swan and a koala that senior vet Dr Michael Pyne has been caring for.
"It doesn't come cheap treating all these animals and it's so important that we keep that funding coming in," Dr Pyne said.
New future for fundraising
Dr Pyne said the usual fundraising efforts that keep the place running are now no longer an option.
"Every year we have a gala dinner and it is one of our major fundraisers and of course, that can't go ahead in its usual format," he said.
Instead, this year it is taking the dinner online and showing people videos of the daily operations of the hospital.
"So what we'll be doing is having a virtual gala dinner, which is a great concept where anyone can jump online and can buy a ticket to our gala dinner and they can really experience what happens in the hospital," he said.
"We've got a heap of celebrities that are saying their piece and some great entertainers that'll be on show as well."
He said he hoped the virtual gala would become an annual thing, seeing opportunity in the webcast.
"It's great to be able to showcase what we do globally rather than just to the local community," he said.
"I believe we've already sold tickets to [people in] Mexico, Canada, Germany, so that worldwide reach is there and it's exciting that we'll be able to showcase what we do."
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Topics: epidemics-and-pandemics, covid-19, federal---state-issues, health-policy, travel-health-and-safety, environment, endangered-and-protected-species, human-interest, animals, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, diseases-and-disorders, infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases, brisbane-4000, qld, currumbin-4223, southport-4215, childers-4660, bundaberg-4670, maroochydore-4558, warwick-4370, australia, toowoomba-4350
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