Entangled Wildlife Australia

Australia's native wildlife face a range of significant risks e.g. habitat destruction, road trauma, attacks from domestic/feral animals and disease. Entanglement in barbed wire, inappropriate fruit netting, discarded fishing line/tackle/netting and general rubbish (e.g. plastic rings on milk bottles) also represents a serious risk to wildlife, causing horrendous injuries (frequently causing death). Flying foxes, seabirds, water fowl, gliders, owls, marine mammals, turtles, macropods and reptiles are some of the species that unfortunately become entangled.

Reporting by the public to wildlife rescue groups of entanglement sightings will always be important – to minimise suffering and to maximise the chance of a successful rescue. Animals that have been successfully rescued and rehabilitated can then be returned to the wild. This reporting is also important to help build a solid body of data to help wildlife/conservation groups in their efforts to increase awareness of these risks to wildlife, and when engaging with government and corporate stakeholders to advocate for risk minimisation initiatives.

This project was inspired by the Wildlife Friendly Fencing initiative and has been expanded to include entanglements relating to discarded fishing gear, which still continues to be a significant risk to a range of animals, especially seabirds, water fowl and turtles. It is hoped that this app will be useful for (and support the efforts of) volunteer wildlife rescue groups around Australia who are faced with these challenging rescues on a daily basis, and help increase the use of wildlife-friendly fencing / fruit netting and the responsible disposal of fishing tackle/line and nets.

Sincere appreciation to Tolga Bat Hospital, Wildcare Australia Inc., Wild Bird Rescues Gold Coast, Bats Qld., Pelican and Seabird Rescue Inc., Bat Conservation & Rescue Queensland Inc. Reptile Rehabilitation Queensland Inc. and H. & D. Cuschieri for their advice and support.

A final thanks to all wildlife rescuers, carers, veterinary staff and members of the wider community around Australia for their dedication to helping our native wildlife, from reporting entanglements through to rescue, treatment, rehabilitation and release.

澳大利亚本土野生动物面临多种重大威胁，例如栖息地破坏、道路伤亡、家养/野生动物的攻击及疾病。此外，被铁丝网、不合规的水果网、废弃渔线/渔具/渔网以及普通垃圾（如牛奶瓶上的塑料环）缠绕，也对野生动物构成严重风险，会造成可怕的伤害（常导致死亡）。不幸的是，狐蝠、海鸟、水禽、滑翔动物、猫头鹰、海洋哺乳动物、海龟、有袋类动物（macropods）和爬行动物等物种均会受到缠绕威胁。

公众向野生动物救援组织报告缠绕目击事件始终至关重要——这能最大限度减少动物痛苦，并提升成功救援的几率。成功获救并康复的动物可重返野外。此类报告还有助于构建坚实的数据集，支持野生动物/保护组织提高公众对这些风险的认知，并在与政府及企业利益相关方合作时，倡导推行风险最小化举措。

本项目受“野生动物友好型围栏”倡议启发，现已扩展至涵盖废弃渔具相关的缠绕问题——此类问题仍对多种动物构成重大风险，尤其是海鸟、水禽和海龟。期望这款应用能为澳大利亚各地每日应对此类挑战性救援的志愿野生动物救援组织提供帮助（并支持其工作），同时推动野生动物友好型围栏/水果网的使用，以及渔线/渔具/渔网的负责任处置。

衷心感谢Tolga蝙蝠医院、澳大利亚野生动物保护协会（Wildcare Australia Inc.）、黄金海岸野生鸟类救援组织、昆士兰州蝙蝠协会（Bats Qld.）、鹈鹕与海鸟救援协会（Pelican and Seabird Rescue Inc.）、昆士兰州蝙蝠保护与救援协会（Bat Conservation & Rescue Queensland Inc.）、昆士兰州爬行动物康复协会（Reptile Rehabilitation Queensland Inc.）以及H. & D. Cuschieri提供的建议与支持。

最后，感谢所有澳大利亚野生动物救援人员、护理人员、兽医及广大社区成员——他们致力于帮助本土野生动物，从报告缠绕事件到救援、治疗、康复及放归，全程付出。