{"id":175473,"date":"2025-12-09T13:44:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T13:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/175473\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T13:44:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T13:44:14","slug":"sad-discovery-in-tiny-puddle-near-housing-development-highlights-ongoing-issue-on-suburban-outskirts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/175473\/","title":{"rendered":"Sad discovery in ‘tiny puddle’ near housing development highlights ongoing issue on suburban outskirts"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the edge of a new housing development, rescuers have responded to a sad discovery buried in thick mud. Up to its neck and shivering at the edge of a dam,<\/a> they found a kangaroo believed to be displaced by the construction at the NSW site.<\/p>\n

The team from Possumwood, a specialist wildlife trauma centre, believes the animal was likely seeking refuge in an area that had abundant water until recently.<\/p>\n

Injuries later discovered on its body suggest it had been chased by dogs<\/a>, a common occurrence when farmland becomes urbanised, and families move into the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing kangaroos do when they’re threatened like that is jump into a farm dam<\/a>, knowing the dogs won’t attack them whilst they’re in relatively deep water,\u201d its founder Professor Steve Garlick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, in this particular case, the dam was virtually empty, with only a tiny puddle remaining in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Incident sparks warning about future of kangaroos on urban fringe<\/p>\n

The incident occurred at Queanbeyan, near the ACT border, <\/a>where there’s been a steady expansion of housing developments.<\/p>\n

Professor Garlick warns the kangaroo’s predicament highlights the growing pressure facing native animals<\/a> considered by authorities to be abundant.<\/p>\n

Because they don\u2019t receive the same protections as species threatened with extinction, their habitat is rapidly being bulldozed and fragmented.<\/p>\n

Professor Garlick said the expansion of the urban fringe means kangaroos are more likely to encounter dogs, people and vehicles.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople seem to think there\u2019s a plague of kangaroos \u2014 well, not really,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cKangaroos are just being crammed into smaller places, so it looks like there\u2019s a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you made a similar discovery? Contact newsroomau@yahoonews.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/p>\n

The kangaroo is now recovering after being taken into care. Marks are visible on the animal’s face and they were likely inflicted by a dog. Source: Possumwood<\/p>\n

As urban development takes over grasslands, kangaroos become locally extinct in areas where they were once abundant.<\/p>\n

\u201cDogs proliferate, and people don\u2019t want kangaroos in their backyards, and it becomes very difficult for kangaroos to exist,\u201d Professor Garlick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people who move into these places come with suburban values and tend not to always relate well to Australia\u2019s wildlife.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince they\u2019ve bought their property, they often believe that the land is their own, and kangaroos and other animals that have lived in these areas find themselves with a lot more stressors in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

New challenge facing rehabilitated kangaroo<\/p>\n

When dogs chase kangaroos, they can develop an often fatal stress-induced condition called myopathy.<\/p>\n

After the kangaroo was taken from the dam, it was immediately sedated to reduce its risk of death.<\/p>\n

When it came into care, the Possumwood team worked to remove the mud and warm it up, because its temperature was 28 degrees, rather than 36.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now been in care for over a week and is recovering well, but releasing it somewhere safe will be a challenge, as available habitat shrinks.<\/p>\n

Over his years working with wildlife, Prof Garlick has watched as the face of Australia has changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are areas where there used to be kangaroos that you no longer see them, but it\u2019s the same with other wildlife too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBirds, possums, wombats and echidnas, you just don\u2019t find them in those places.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love Australia’s weird and wonderful environment? \ud83d\udc0a\ud83e\udd98\ud83d\ude33 Get our new newsletter<\/a> showcasing the week\u2019s best stories.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the edge of a new housing development, rescuers have responded to a sad discovery buried in thick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[112633,111,139,69,112631,112630,27547,147,112632,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-175473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-housing-development","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-possumwood","13":"tag-professor-garlick","14":"tag-sad-discovery","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-steve-garlick","17":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}