‘Nothing like this has happened before’: Mystery as woman finds a line of dead wallabies on a sports pitch – and reveals more than 20 have been killed in just four days
- A woman has described the harrowing moment she found eight dead wallabies
- Discovery comes as a total of 21 dead wallabies are found in less than a week
- Charity worker Shai Ager said she had not seen anything like this before
- Council claims the animals died from stress after possibly being chased by dogs
A woman has spoken of the harrowing moment she walking onto a sports pitch to find the bodies of eight dead wallabies (pictured)
A woman has spoken of the harrowing moment she walked onto a sports pitch to find eight dead wallabies.
Ecologist Shai Ager, 21, was at the Trinity Beach Sporting Precinct, in Cairns, on Thursday, when she made the grim discovery.
In horrific footage shared to Facebook Ms Ager describes moment she managed to rescue two babies from their mothers’ pouches.
‘We have just found eight dead wallabies,’ Ms Ager can be heard saying.
‘We’ve got two alive. One had a tiny little pinkie that we’ve been keeping nice and warm here.’
Ms Ager, who runs wallaby protection chairty The Agile Project, said that 21 wallabies have been found dead in five separate incidents in less than a week.
‘It’s suspicious. nothing has happened like this before’, she said.
‘We’ve never had so many wallabies dead in such a small time in such a small area.’
Speaking about the Facebook video Ms Ager explains that he was found trying to get back into his dead mother’s pouch.
Ecologist Shai Ager, 21, (pictured) was at the Trinity Beach Sporting Precinct, in Cairns, when she made the grim discovery on Thursday
Toxicology tests have been taken to determine if the animals were poisoned and will return early next week.
Ms Ager said that the springs on the one-way gate leading to the sports park appear to have been tampered so that wallabies can enter the field.
She claims that the unusual circumstances have also shocked vets tending to the sick animals.
Cairns Regional Council collected the deceased animals from the site and claim the deaths were ‘stress-related’.
‘Council is reviewing reports concerning the discovery a number deceased agile wallabies at the Trinity Beach Sporting Precinct,’ the spokesperson told Yahoo News.
‘Early indications suggest that the deaths are stress-related, likely associated with being chased by dogs.’
In horrific footage shared to Facebook Ms Ager describes moment she managed to rescue two babies from their mothers’ pouches
Council is monitoring the area and has notified the Department of the Environment and Science.
Ms Ager told Daily Mail Australia that many wallabies have been forced out of their natural habitats due to housing developments.
‘They are now forced to live in suburban backyards, sporting fields and strips of grass next to highways or roads,’ she said.
Ms Ager is currently engaged in a tribunal case with the state government to fight for better protection of wallabies.
Ms Ager is currently engaged in a tribunal case with the state government to fight for better protection of wallabies
‘There have been over 500 deaths in the past fourteen months,’ she said.
‘Every native species is protected but because they aren’t endangered it’s hard to get them relocated.’
‘Other wildlife cases are looking at this case. We want to change Australia’s managed protocol procedures to relocation rather than culling. Culling is just a mass slaughter is inhumane.’
The wildlife carer said one joey costs $1000 to raise until they are released back into the wild at 14 months.
Cairns Regional Council has been contacted for comment.
Although Ms Ager (pictured) has revealed that one has already been named ‘Remy’, she has called on the public to help name the other three