'It's just carnage': Wildlife carer's plea to drivers

The Durong Dingo Sanctuary owner pulled up to find little black paws hanging out of the pouch of the female wallaby.

RESCUE JOEY: Durong wildlife carer Simon Stretton with Shelly the black-striped wallaby joey he rescued last week. Picture: Jessica McGrath

DRIVERS should be mindful while travelling the region's roads and check for the young of wildlife left lying on the bitumen.

This is the message wildlife carer Simon Stretton has for drivers after an early morning discovery while driving to Toowoomba.

It was 3am when Simon Stretton pulled up to find little black paws hanging out of the pouch of a dead wallaby.

The Durong Dingo Sanctuary owner picked up the black-striped wallaby joey from the pouch where its mother had been hit along Shellytop Rd, Durong last week.

"I'd come home earlier at about six o'clock, it was dark and there was nothing there," Mr Stretton said.

The mother wallaby was hit sometime after 6pm and the driver had not stopped to drag the carnage off the road or check if there was a joey in its pouch.

"Wallabies don't normally run in front, someone has hit it there and left it there," he said.

He said if the joey had been left undiscovered until daylight, it would have been dead too.

Mr Stretton took the joey to the vet in Toowoomba while he went to medical appointments.

"The joey was collected from the vet, it was not damaged in any way - how is a miracle," he said.

Since then, Mr Stretton has been feeding the precious velvet joey every four hours and given her the name Shelly.

"You've got to be so gentle with them, it's not their fault their mother has died," he said.

The wildlife volunteer, who mainly looks after birds and dingoes, has committed himself to raising the joey.

"I can't release it, it's too humanised," he said.

Durong Rescue Joey

VIEW GALLERY

Mr Stretton urges drivers to be more mindful on the roads.

"It's just carnage along our roads," he said.

According to the RACQ, the Maranoa region is the number-one area in Queensland where motorists are making claims after car accidents involving animals.

The Wide Bay came in third place.

"People need to be mindful of driving and check when they see a kangaroo or wallaby on the side of the road," Mr Stretton said.

He said eastern greys were particularly common as their attention was drawn towards the car headlights.

Mr Stretton said if anyone found a joey or other young animal on the road, they should contact a wildlife carer.

He praised the efforts of fellow carer Kayleen England and her team at South Burnett Wildlife Rescue.

Mr Stretton said the South Burnett Regional Council's efforts in their slashing program had helped keep kangaroos and wallabies further away from the roadside and out of danger from vehicles.

Originally published as 'It's just carnage': Wildlife carer's plea to drivers