The young kangaroos ended up in a spot of bother with a hop, skip and a jump … into a hole. Photos: NSW SES Batemans Bay Unit/Facebook.
Two young kangaroos found themselves needing a lift after ending up somewhere unexpected.
On Saturday (9 August), two prospectors were walking through the South Coast bush when they found the wayward pair.
The kangaroos had fallen down a hole, estimated to be about 2.5 metres deep and 200 metres into the bush near Mogo.
The NSW SES Batemans Bay unit was called, along with WIRES, to manage their rescue.
Bob Colville, the unit’s deputy commander of rescue, said the request was the first of its kind for the group.
“It’s usually domestic animals [needing rescue] – not usually native animals,” he told Region.
“Not kangaroos!”
To return them to safety, the kangaroos needed to be sedated with an intramuscular injection.
Mr Colville was one of the rescuers who stayed above ground, keeping watch on the delicate operation below.
“Our unit commander was the one who was in the hole with the WIRES personnel and the kangaroos,” he said.
“Initially, the kangaroos had to be cornered with a net so they could be sedated.”
Mr Colville said the roos were then put into bags, before the SES unit took over.
To lift them from the hole, the unit decided to hand the 40-odd-kilogram animals from person to person.
“They were carried by hand up the ladder,” Mr Colville said.
”The roos were still kicking and fumbling on the way up.”
Two agencies made the trek into the bush to find and rescue the roos.
The kangaroos were watched carefully as the sedative wore off, before WIRES volunteers released them back into the bush.
“It was a good feeling to see them moving on safely,” Mr Colville said.
“It was actually a pretty simple rescue, which was good … There were no injuries or anything like that.”
Mr Colville said the rescue took about two hours.
He said the unit didn’t know how the pair ended up in the hole, but members were preparing for a similar situation.
“We’re not sure whether it was a sinkhole or whether it’s an old disused mine shaft,” he said.
“It’s got the potential. It may not be native animals – it could be domestic animals.
“We’re actually arranging for WIRES to attend a training session to educate our members on native wildlife rescues.”
