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、道路交通事故、家养/野化野生动物的袭击以及疾病。此外，误入带刺铁丝网、不当使用的果树防护网、废弃渔线/渔具/渔网以及各类垃圾（如奶瓶塑料挂环）也会对野生动物构成严重威胁，造成极为惨痛的伤害（往往导致死亡）。狐蝠、海鸟、水禽、滑翔有袋动物（gliders）、猫头鹰、海洋哺乳动物、海龟、袋鼠科动物（macropods）及爬行动物等诸多物种，都不幸会陷入这类缠绕困境。

公众向野生动物救援组织上报缠绕遇险的目击情况始终至关重要——此举可最大限度减少动物的痛苦，并提升成功救援的概率。经成功救援并康复的动物可被放归野外。这类上报工作同样有助于积累详实的数据集，助力野生动物保护组织提升公众对这类野生动物威胁的认知，并在与政府及企业利益相关方沟通时，倡导推广风险防控举措。

本项目的灵感源自“野生动物友好型围栏（Wildlife Friendly Fencing）”倡议，且已扩展纳入与废弃渔具相关的缠绕风险——这类风险至今仍是诸多动物的重大威胁，尤以海鸟、水禽和海龟为甚。我们期望这款应用能够为澳大利亚各地每日都需应对这类棘手救援任务的志愿野生动物救援组织提供支持，并助力推广野生动物友好型围栏、果树防护网的合理使用，以及渔具、渔线和渔网的合规处置。

衷心感谢托加蝙蝠医院（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）、昆士兰州蝙蝠保护组织（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夫妇提供的建议与支持。

最后，谨向澳大利亚各地所有野生动物救援者、护理人员、兽医工作人员及广大社区成员致以谢意，感谢他们致力于保护本土野生动物，从上报缠绕遇险情况，到实施救援、治疗、康复与放归的全过程都倾注心血。