Brad and Bree the kangaroo twins given a second chance at life by Mount Gambier Wildlife Carer

They’ve had a rough start to life but these rare joey twins are on the road to recovery after their mum was hit and left for dead in the Adelaide Hills.

Every four hours, around the clock, Julia Dangerfield can be found bottle feeding a mob of native animals and life has only gotten busier since the twins arrived.

Weighing just over 1kg each the Western Grey joeys are lucky to be alive after they fell from their mum’s pouch when she tragically hit and left for dead the Adelaide Hills.

Julia Dangerfield with rescue kangaroos Brad and Bree at her Mount Gambier animal sanctuary. Picture: Frank Monger

Brad and Bree – named after Bradbury where they were discovered – are the second set of twins the Mount Gambier Wildlife Carer has raised in her seven years.

“A kind member of the public scooped the babies up off the road,” Ms Dangerfield said.

“Twins are not very common, we probably see maybe about one or two sets of twins a year in South Australia.

“They normally only have one because they have a limited amount of pouch space so that would probably be why mum unfortunately dropped them because it’s quite a lot of weight to have in her pouch.”

The orphans will be bottle fed at Julia’s Mount Gambier home for up to two years before they are old enough to fly the coop.

“You don’t get much time to sleep between the feeds,” she said.

Brad and Bree are lucky to be alive after their mum was hit by a car. Picture: Frank Monger

“In South Australia we can’t release these guys into the wild, they will be kept in captivity in a sanctuary for the rest of their life which ideally would be about 15 to 20 years.”

The twins bring the volunteer’s pack to six joeys and a possum with $50 of speciality formula sometimes only lasting a week and vet bills regularly hitting the hundreds each week.

The twins bring the volunteer’s pack up to six joeys and a possum.

And the big numbers means big bills, with the joeys’ $50 tin of specialty formula only sometimes lasting a week, and vet bills regularly hitting the hundreds.

Ms Dangerfield’s day often starts with a 3am call from a dairy farmer who found a dead roo on their way to work.

Usually on the same South East truck routes near the pines. She said the worst days were the full moons with little cloud cover, particularity in winter when dusk collides with peak hour.

Julia has rescued 60 roos – maybe more – this year, but they don’t all make it.

Julia Dangerfield feeds rare joey twins Brad and Bree and Brad at her Mount Gambier home. Picture: Frank Monger

“It’s constant,” she said.

“I get calls daily and nightly.

“It’s not just the kangaroos, it’s the possums and the birds and the reptiles.

“I also do a lot of the rescues of adults that do need to be humanely euthanised after they’ve been hit by cars so it’s not just the cute and cuddly joeys.”

Julia’s proud mum Karen Dangerfield said her daughter was fighting to fill the a shortage of carer across the state.

“It is expensive and Julia does this by herself,” Karen said.

“It’s not funded, people help, they’ll make donations which are beautiful, they make pouches but she’s doing a lot towards trying to get more carers.

“Her heart is huge. It’s absolutely huge and sometimes it drives me crazy and we have our moments where it’s like an enough is enough.”