A wildlife rescuer says animals are being left to die by motorists, amid an alarming spike in roadkill.
Over the last few months, Jason Cichocki has been rescuing five to 10 animals every day.
He said the number of animals being hit by cars was at its worst level in years.
Surf Coast Wildlife Rescue (SCWR) has been receiving countless calls for help with animals wounded in collisions.
However, Mr Cichocki says these calls are not coming from the drivers who had actually hit them, but from good Samaritans who have found the animals – often far too late.
Mr Cichocki, the director of SCWR, said the spike in motorists failing to call for assistance was “incredibly upsetting”.
“If you were to hit a human, you wouldn’t just drive off … there’s no difference between that and what’s happening with the kangaroos … they’re just another living individual just as we are,” he said.
The reality of collisions means the majority of calls Mr Cichocki attends often end in euthanasia of the animal.
In some unfortunate instances, animals who were not immediately killed on impact may lay there for weeks on end before they actually died, he said.
Motorists can play their part in saving these animals from enduring painful deaths by calling for assistance immediately.
Mr Cichocki confirmed drivers would not face any criminal or legal repercussions for accidentally hitting kangaroos or wallabies, nor would they be reprimanded by rescuers at SCWR.
“We’re not here to … see anybody prosecuted for this, all we want is that if you do hit an animal, you take responsibility for that and make the call,” he said.
Quick-thinking Surf Coast drivers can often also save more than one life.
SCWR said a large number of the fatalities came from female kangaroos with joeys whose lives could have been spared if motorists had stopped and called for help.
In the last few weeks alone, Mr Cichocki said he had saved five joeys from their mothers’ pouches.
“They’re all gone into care and now they’ve all got a second chance at a life,” he said.
Mr Cichocki advises motorists to drive slower in areas frequented by kangaroos and wallabies and if they do accidentally hit an animal to call for help immediately.
For motorists in the region, Surf Coast Wildlife Rescue can be reached 24/7 at 0422048557.
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