Wildlife Victoria’s Travelling Veterinary Services team – in pictures

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The service launched in 2022 in response to a statewide veterinary worker shortage and a critical gap in round-the-clock wildlife veterinary support. They treat native animals who are sick, injured or have been left orphaned and are in need of shelter and care

Douglas Gimesy

Main image: At Joey and Bat Sanctuary wildlife shelter, Wildlife Victoria’s travelling vet service nurse Camilla Woods anesthetises a young grey-headed flying-fox in preparation for x-ray. Photograph: Doug Gimesy

  • The veterinary team set up for the opening of Victoria’s duck hunting season. Lake Lyngher, Boort, Victoria.

    The team consists of five veterinarians and five nurses who operate from custom-built 4WDs.
    Aerial shot of 4wd vehicles setup on an open grass area

  • A grey teal (Anas gracilis) shot by a duck hunter is anaesthetised.

    Each TVS vehicle is fully equipped to perform detailed, roadside assessments which significantly reduces diagnostic time, allowing staff to provide care quickly to reduce animal suffering and to improve results for treatable animals.
    Woman's hand holds a duck's head in a plastic cone

  • An anesthetised grey teal that was shot is weighed by vet nurse Lee Moon.

    An anesthetised Grey teal that was shot is weighed by vet nurse Lee Moon

  • Veterinarian Dr Emily Graham examines the X-ray of a young grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) in care at Joey and Bat Sanctuary wildlife shelter. Named Baxter, he was found with soft tissue injures, having been caught under a play area pergola at a childcare centre in Kealba.

    There are two travelling vet service hubs. One based in Nunawading, that does more urban cases and one based out of Warragul, which services rural areas.
    Woman looking at x-ray of a flying fox on a laptop

  • Wildlife Victoria’s travelling veterinarian Dr Jessica McCutchan, assisted by vet nurse Jordan Finn, draws blood from a yellow-tailed black cockatoo (Zandra funereal) that was found in the middle of the road in Beaumaris.

    Veterinarian draws blood samples from a yellow-tailed black cockatoo

  • Vet Service nurse Camila Woods drives her mobile vet clinic to the next case.

    Wildlife Victoria’s TVS is on call seven days a week to attend to sick, injured and orphaned wildlife the in field and in care.
    Woman driving car seen from behind

  • Veterinarian Dr Alisdair Eddie anaesthetises a bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus) that had been reported as acting strangely and potentially with a severe case of mange, in The Basin.

    Each vehicle is equipped with specialist and essential veterinary equipment including a mobile X-Ray machine, mobile anaesthesia machine, a darting gun, medications, pull-out treatment tables, fluid pumps and items for basic pathology such as a microscope and centrifuge.
    Man tending to wombat caught in a net

  • Eddie prepares to sedate a sick or injured swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) using a dart gun in a garden in Kalorama.

    Wildlife Victoria, a non-profit charity, receives less than 7% of its annual operating costs from the state government.
    Man with a dart gun

  • Veterinarian Dr Jessica McCutchan examines a brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) that was rescued in a Clayton back yard. It was unable to see and had head trauma.

    The organisation and its continued operation of the state’s wildlife emergency response service and travelling veterinary service are basically reliant on donations from the Victorian public.
    Woman tends to possum on the fold-out tray on the side of a 4wd

  • Vet nurse Jordan Finn anesthetises a possum that was found on a doorstep and collected from South Oakleigh Wildlife Shelter.

    A possum in a blanket with its face in a plastic cone

  • Moon feeds one of the many young orphaned eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) in care at Bunurong Wildlife Care.

    Joey being bottle fed

  • Graham caries equipment from the mobile vet clinic into Joey and Bat Sanctuary wildlife shelter.

    In the past 12 months, Wildlife Victoria’s Travelling Veterinary Service has attended to nearly 400 cases of sick, injured and orphaned wildlife.
    Woman carrying veterinary equipment up a driveway

  • At South Oakleigh Wildlife Shelter, McCutchan (middle) discuses with shelter head, Michele Phillips (left), the X-rays of a yellow-tailed black cockatoo.

    Two women looking at a laptop screen

  • A short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), undergoes its final health check before release, is placed into a warm box to fully recover by Moon. The Echidna (named Candy) was brought in after being hit by a motor vehicle. X-rays revealed a beak fracture.

    Lee Moon places an echidna in a plastic box

  • McCutchan

    examines the blood sample of a galah in care, to check for inflammation.
    Woman looking into a microscope

  • A rescued eastern grey kangaroo joey (named Donald) has his vitals checked. Donald was bounced out of his mother’s pouch when she was chased by a dog off-lead in Leongatha. Despite grazes and bruising from hitting the road surface, he was cleared of injury.

    Close up of a stethoscope placed on the side of a joey

  • Moon holds and examines a young rescued bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus) - whose mother had been hit by a car.

    Moon holding a young wombat

  • Graham examines in a joey that has just been retrieved from the pouch of a eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) which had been hit by a car.

    Woman holding a very young joey on her lap in a car

  • An anesthetised short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is prepared for an X-ray.

    Echidna on an X-ray plate having it's beak brushed

  • Woods marks a road-killed bare-nosed wombat to indicate that the pouch has been checked for a potential live joey in Dixon’s Creek.

    Young woman spray paints a wombat carcass with pink paint on the side of a road
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