Our WILVOS 5441 6200 Hotline often receives calls which serve as a reminder on what not to do with wildlife. We can protect our wildlife in many simple ways. These are usually simple preventative measures.
A major problem with our native animals is the feeding of bread. Councils have signs around which are often ignored, to the detriment of wildlife health. If one person breaks up a slice of bread and feeds it to a flock of water or land birds, then it wouldn’t do long term damage. Unfortunately, there may be many people throwing bread out to native animals during the course of each day. This is a major issue.
When bread is thrown out into the water, it sinks and pollutes the waterways. When scattered on the land it may become mouldy and toxic. Whether it is plain white or multigrain the nutritional value is similar. (Organic, preservative-free bread may be a little healthier but is still not advisable as nourishment.) It all boils down to the fact that bread is processed for people, not for animals. Check out the animals’ native diet and gather that for them. It could lead to some fascinating activities!
WILVOS do receive calls about many species that suffer major, often fatal, health issues due to the feeding of bread. If we fill them up with unsuitable food, wildlife will not go and forage for the nutritious native foods that make them strong and healthy.
We can all make a difference to wildlife health.
Donna Brennan Wildlife Volunteers Assoc Inc (WILVOS) PO Box 4805 Sunshine Coast Mail Centre Q 4560 PH 5441 6200 www.wilvos.org.au