Small, brown, round and with eyes barely open, an echidna puggle is receiving lifesaving care at Healesville Sanctuary after being found on its own in a mulch pile.
The lone wild puggle was discovered in mulch in a Yarra Junction backyard while the homeowner was gardening at the end of November, so the veterinary team from the Sanctuary’s Australia Wildlife Health Centre stepped in to help.
Healesville Sanctuary Senior Veterinary Nurse Sarah Kaiser said feeding the puggle had proved the biggest challenge.
At approximately 16 weeks old the youngster should still be drinking milk excreted from its mother’s mammary glands, instead the Sanctuary team is feeding it a specially formulated milk via a syringe and dripping small amounts into a silicon bowl. The milk is high fat, low lactose, replicating its mother’s milk.
“Feeding was difficult at first, however after a week we had success, and now the puggle regularly eats up to 25 per cent of its body weight in one sitting,” Mrs Kaiser said. “Feeding usually takes place every five days or so to replicate what would occur in the wild.
“The little one is doing really well and putting on the right amount of weight to grow up strong and healthy.”
The puggle weighed less than 500 grams when it arrived and is now tipping the scales at 788 grams at its last weight check on Friday 6 January.
It will soon be moving from the hospital ward environment to a different environment filled with natural substrate such as mulch.
The team at Healesville Sanctuary will be offering broken-down logs to the echidna puggle as a source of enrichment and within the next month the weaning process will begin with solid foods offered to the monotreme. The quills on the back of the echidna are also starting to become more prominent and sharp.
As the animal continues to improve, a decision will soon be made whether the animal can be released back into the wild.
It is rare to see an echidna puggle at such an early age at the Australian Wildlife Health Centre, however it is common for the vets to see a variety of species.
This spring has been busy with 558 wildlife patients coming through the doors of the hospital.
In November alone, 199 wildlife cases required treatment. Road trauma-related incidents are a common reason.
Healesville Sanctuary’s Australian Wildlife Health Centre treats more than 2,000 wildlife patients each year. Sanctuary visitors can view the amazing work of the dedicated vets via the internal glass walls of the hospital.
For more information about what to do if you find an injured animal visit zoo.org.au/emergency-wildlife-help or call the Australian Wildlife Health Centre on (03) 5957 2829.
Short-beaked echidnas can be found across most of Australia. Echidnas are an egg-laying mammal known as a monotreme. Echidna puggles are usually born between September and November and, at about four to five months old quills appear on their back.
