By JESSE GRAHAM
AN ORPHANED swamp wallaby has become one of the latest residents at Healesville Sanctuary after being brought in for surgery on the weekend.
On Saturday, 15 August, the seven-month-old swamp wallaby was brought into the Sanctuary, orphaned and with a fractured leg.
After giving the wallaby, who they named Rocky, X-rays, veterinarians at the sanctuary’s Australian Wildlife Health Centre (AWHC) decided to operate on the animal, securing pins into the fractured leg with an external frame.
Vet nurse, Emmajane Newton-Dinning, said that although the surgery went well, Rocky’s heart stopped when he was taken off of anaesthetic.
“When we turned the anaesthetic gas off, he decided that was it and his heart stopped and he stopped breathing,” she said.
“I wasn’t in the surgery … then I was brought in to help with CPR.”
Ms Newton-Dinning said the wallaby pulled through the surgery, and that his name reflected his hardiness in coming through his injury.
“It’s a very prolonged recovery – he’s still not out of the woods,” she said.
“He’s still effectively an intensive care patient.”
She said Rocky’s chest was “crackly”, which she said may have been a result of his injury or sustained during his death or CPR attempts.
Throughout his recovery, which is expected to take about six weeks, Rocky spends his nights at home with Ms Newton-Dinning, receiving around-the-clock care.
She said that he spent most of his time in a warm incubator box, as other wallabies at his age spend much of their time in their mother’s pouch.
After his leg is healed up, Rocky’s expected to become a permanent resident of the sanctuary.
Rocky is one of the 1500 patients that come through the doors of the AWHC each year.
Zoos Victoria recently finished its annual tax-time appeal for the AWHC, which collected $265,000 in donations – $65,000 more than the original goal.
