Hungry, randy and disoriented: animals become road kill

BLOODIED piles of fur on the tarmac and roadside signal the start of trauma season for Sunshine Coast wildlife.

KILLING SEASON: More wild animals are killed or injured on the roads at this time of year. Picture: Tanya Easterby

BLOODIED piles of fur on the tarmac and roadside signal the start of trauma season for Sunshine Coast wildlife.

From about August through to March, the number of wild animals killed or injured on the roads increases.

Patient numbers at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital jumped from 316 in July 2015 to 464 the following month, peaking at 658 in December.

The 353 patients at the hospital this July already exceeds last year's figure for the same period.

More than half of those admitted come from the Sunshine Coast, a quarter from the Moreton Bay Regional Council area, and the rest from other areas of the state.

Birds made up more than a third of admissions last month, followed by marsupials such as possums and gliders at 19%, and macropods - kangaroos and wallabies - at 10%, then then koalas at 8%.

Donna Anthony, vice-president of the Wildlife Volunteers Association or WILVOS, said wild animals were often on the move at this time of year looking for food or mates.

However, habitat destruction could force wild animals in to areas they were unfamiliar with and consequently on to roads, she said.

"They get disoriented. They are on their way to a spot and they see everything has changed completely,” she said.

She said animals and people were often on the move at the same time - at dusk or dark - and it was often difficult for motorists to see them until it was too late.

A Eumundi Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre spokesman said road trauma was only one cause of admission and attacks by roaming cats and dogs also took their toll on wild animals.

The spokesman said a lot of birds were also brought in unnecessarily by people who thought they had fallen out of the next when they were actually learning to fly.

"We get a lot of people who pick them up and go, 'Oh, this bird can't fly',” she said.

Dead animals on a council road or land should be reported to Sunshine Coast Council on 5475 7272 or Noosa Council on 5329 6500. Carcasses on a main road should be reported to Main Roads on 131 940.

If you find a sick or injured wild animal, phone the WILVOS 24-hour hotline on 5441 6200, the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital on 1300 369 652, or the Eumundi Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre on 5442 8057.