By Dongyun Kwon
Kangaroos were found deceased on Friday 20 September in Healesville.
Five deceased Kangaroos were positioned from near the intersection of Airlie Road and Maroondah Highway along Airlie Road to Badger Creek Road direction.
Healesville resident Leonie Hauke, who used to work as a wildlife carer, found them while she was heading to Lilydale around 1.20pm.
She checked them out on her way back home around 3pm and reported it to Star Mail.
She said it’s very suspicious because as a wildlife lover, she knows that kangaroos don’t die en masse.
“Five of them have died on this road [Airlie Road] or like near this road in the last day, and one is the adult male to the group that frequents this area and he’s dead in the paddock near Maroondah Highway,” Ms Hauke said.
“There’s a baby just up from him on the side of the road [Airlie Road], it’s too small to be by itself, so either its mother’s been scared and she’s dumped the baby to get away, which is what kangaroos do when they’re frightened.
“There were two others up a bit further and one of them has been taken away since I returned to this road this afternoon, and the other one has had lime put on it.”
Ms Hauke travelled the same road two days ago when she didn’t see any deceased kangaroos.
Ms Hauke originally found four kangaroos but found one more while she was showing the scene to Star Mail.
A Wildlife Victoria spokesperson said it’s likely the kangaroos were reported to Wildlife Victoria’s Emergency Response Service and that volunteers were dispatched to do pouch checks.
“Wildlife Victoria volunteers however do not remove any deceased wildlife as this is the responsibility of the relevant council,” they said.
“There is a subset of Wildlife Victoria volunteers who are macropod experts trained in darting and euthanasia.
“Though generally speaking, our volunteers rescue and transport wildlife to veterinary clinics for treatment and assessment.”
Star Mail contacted Yarra Ranges Council.
