Gaylene Parker of WIRES

Gaylene Parker has been a devoted volunteer with WIRES since 1990. The NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service is a volunteer-based organisation dedicated to caring for injured and orphaned native fauna. Gaylene had five years prior experience in fostering before becoming a member and has rehabilitated over 500 wombats to date. Currently she has 27 wombats under her care, 17 being joeys requiring four daily bottle feeds. Needless to say, this keeps her very busy. The time taken to rear each orphaned wombat joey varies, but they are usually ready for release into the wild once they have gained an ideal weight. Gaylene maintains that the care of each one is provided without excessive human interaction, in an environment that is as close to the animal’s natural living conditions as possible. To discover more about WIRES and the wonderful work they do, visit www.wires.org.au. For information regarding injured wildlife in the area please call the Wingecarribee branch on (02) 4862 1788

Text: Alison Boyd

Photo: Janyon Boshoff