Phillip Island Wildlife Clinic
Written by: Cameron Ward
Published: 03/02/2015
Reading time: 3 mins
Discover the island’s research, rescue, and protection for the native animals that call Phillip Island home!
Phillip Island is one of the most bountiful places in Victoria to spot some of Australia’s favorite fluffy creatures. Nestled into the beautiful blue and green island you can find thousands of baby penguins, cuddly koalas and the largest colony of fur seals ever to be found on the Australian shores. Every year millions of people flock to the sands to embrace the wonder of Phillip Island and its natural habitat. From the incredibly cute sunset penguin parade to boat rides out to the seal rocks, this is your chance to get up close and personal with scores of cute and cuddly animals.
The Wildlife Clinic opened in 2011 and aims in monitoring all wildlife within the region. Caring for the sick and injured natives, rehabilitating and putting the animals back into the wild so they can resume life without further support from humans. Here visitors can learn more about the native animals to Phillip Island, as well as certain issues they face due to human interference in their environment.
Rehabilitating Those in Need
Yet animals can get hurt and this is where the Phillip Island Wildlife Clinic makes its mark. The clinic was revamped in 2011 with the sole aim of caring for and rehabilitating the sick and the needy wildlife that can wash up on the shores of Philip Island. Whether it’s from a slick oil spill, a nasty fall, a bad fight, lack of food or something else – the aim of the clinic is to nurse these poor creatures back to life so they can rejoin their friends and family in the dunes or out in the waters.
Love, Sweat and Tears
Every year the clinic treats close to 150 baby penguins and scores of other creatures including possums, koalas and short tail shearwaters. One of the biggest disasters that can happen close to Philip Island are oil spills as it only takes a small drop of oil to have an incredibly negative impact on a tiny baby penguin. In 2001 there was a major oil spill disaster close to Philip Island that injured over four hundred penguins, with the help of the volunteers and the love, the sweat and the tears, the Philip Island Wildlife Clinic managed to successfully save these sweet black and white birds and close to 95% of them were able to be rereleased back into the wild to swim and frolic on the sands.
Working in Harmony with Nature
If you are visiting the blissful shores of Phillip Island and you happen to see an animal that has been injured or appears sick then be sure to stop in and let the staff at the wildlife clinic know. Working in harmony with Mother Nature means caring for others who live in this world with us and this means that humans should work to save the animals just like on Philip Island.
