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诸多严峻威胁，例如栖息地破坏、道路撞击伤害、家养及野化动物的攻击以及疾病。缠绕于带刺铁丝网、不当布设的果树防护网、废弃钓线/钓具/渔网以及各类生活垃圾（例如奶瓶塑料挂环）同样对野生动物构成严重威胁，可造成极为严重的创伤，甚至常导致死亡。不幸遭遇缠绕的物种包括狐蝠、海鸟、水禽、滑翔类动物、猫头鹰、海洋哺乳动物、海龟、巨足类动物及爬行动物。

公众向野生动物救援组织上报发现的缠绕事件始终至关重要——此举可减轻动物的痛苦，并提升成功救援的概率。经成功救援并完成康复治疗的动物可被放归野外。此类上报工作还可帮助积累详实的数据集，助力野生动物保护组织提升公众对野生动物所面临此类威胁的认知，同时在与政府及企业利益相关方沟通时，倡导推行风险最小化相关举措。

本项目的灵感源自友好型野生动物围栏（Wildlife Friendly Fencing）倡议，后续扩展至涵盖废弃渔具相关的缠绕威胁——这类威胁至今仍对诸多动物构成严重风险，尤以海鸟、水禽及海龟为甚。本应用旨在为澳大利亚各地每日都需应对此类高难度救援工作的志愿野生动物救援组织提供支持与助力，并推动更多人使用友好型野生动物围栏/果树防护网，以及负责任地处置钓具、钓线与渔网。

谨向托尔加蝙蝠医院（Tolga Bat Hospital）、澳大利亚野生护理协会（Wildcare Australia Inc.）、黄金海岸野生鸟类救援中心（Wild Bird Rescues Gold Coast）、昆士兰蝙蝠协会（Bats Qld.）、鹈鹕与海鸟救援协会（Pelican and Seabird Rescue Inc.）、昆士兰蝙蝠保护与救援协会（Bat Conservation & Rescue Queensland Inc.）、昆士兰爬行动物康复协会（Reptile Rehabilitation Queensland Inc.）以及H. & D. 库什耶里（H. & D. Cuschieri）致以诚挚谢意，感谢他们提供的建议与支持。

最后，谨向澳大利亚各地所有野生动物救援人员、护理人员、兽医团队及广大社区成员致以谢意，感谢他们始终致力于救助本土野生动物——从上报缠绕事件，到实施救援、治疗、康复与放归的全流程工作。