{"id":560159,"date":"2026-03-24T01:54:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/560159\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T01:54:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:54:23","slug":"tasmania-roadkill-orphans-overwhelm-wildlife-sanctuary-rescue-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/560159\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasmania roadkill orphans overwhelm wildlife sanctuary rescue services"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of animals are killed on Tasmanian roads each year, the equivalent of nearly one every minute, cementing the state\u2019s reputation as a global roadkill hotspot.<\/p>\n

The impact is being seen firsthand at Endor Wildlife Sanctuary in Molesworth, which is reporting a sharp year-on-year rise in orphaned native animals arriving in urgent need of care.<\/p>\n

Wildlife carers say many of these young animals are left vulnerable after their mothers are struck by vehicles, placing growing pressure on already stretched rescue services.<\/p>\n

In response, the sanctuary has launched a fundraising campaign to build a dedicated enclosure for hand-raising Tasmanian pademelons, an effort aimed at improving survival rates and keeping up with increasing demand.<\/p>\n

\"\"Hand-raising orphaned native animals requires round-the-clock care<\/p>\n

\u201cAs wildlife rehabilitators, we aren\u2019t funded by any government or private organisations, so everything comes out of our own pockets,\u201d sanctuary carer Carolyn Whitfield told Pulse.<\/p>\n

The sanctuary hand-raises orphan wildlife including Tasmanian pademelons, Bennett\u2019s wallabies and wombats.<\/p>\n

\"\"Endor Wildlife Sanctuary in Molesworth has been careing for orphaned native animals for ten years<\/p>\n

Each joey requires care from several weeks to up to two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe paddy melons and the Bennett\u2019s wallabies, they\u2019re perpetually pregnant, so there\u2019s often joeys in those pouches,\u201d Whitfield said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of what we do is hand raising those little orphans that come from the roadkill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Endor has been operating for the past 10 years under founding director Jodie Swan, recently formalising as a not-for-profit charity. <\/p>\n

\"\"Local Tasmanian businesses have donated prizes to support the sanctuary\u2019s work<\/p>\n

The sanctuary can care for up to 20 animals at once during busy joey seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s round-the-clock work,\u201d Whitfield said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou take it in, but you\u2019ve got that hand-raising for six to nine months depending on the species.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sanctuary releases rehabilitated animals back into the wild, with some returning to visit their carers.<\/p>\n

\"\"Wildlife carers hand-raise orphan joeys after their mothers are hit by cars. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes they\u2019ll come back and say hello, and you\u2019ll see that your little females have got joeys on board,\u201d Whitfield said.<\/p>\n

Wildlife numbers are increasing as animals venture closer to roads during dry seasons seeking food and water.<\/p>\n

The sanctuary is running a raffle closing April 19 and hosting a sausage sizzle at Bunnings Mornington on April 17 with all funds raised going towards the new pademelon enclosure.<\/p>\n

A massive array of prizes has been donated by local Tasmanian businesses for the raffle including a two night stay at Wrest Point Casino valued at $720, a stay at Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge valued at $650 and a Roaring40s Kayaking voucher for two valued at $580.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tasmanian roads claim hundreds of thousands of native animals each year<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Tasmanian business community has just really been an incredible support,\u201d Whitfield said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we were overwhelmed to be honest, but we just need some raffle tickets bought now.\u201d<\/p>\n

To buy raffle tickets online, search for Endor Wildlife Sanctuary on Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of animals are killed on Tasmanian roads each year, the equivalent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":["post-560159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}