Media Releases

NSW Wildlife Information Rescue & Education Service Inc. (WIRES) has announced the release of a free online community course on Australian wildlife that is available in three languages.

The course, ‘An Introduction to Australian Wildlife’, is available in English, Chinese Simplified and Arabic, and has been designed for people of all ages as an easy introduction to wildlife for people unfamiliar with Australian native animals.

Domestic dogs and wildlife are often not a good mix, but a very special working farm dog has proved that this is not always so. 

Hayla, the Maremma X Blue Heeler dutifully spends her time protecting the livestock on her owner’s farm in Myocum NSW from predators such as foxes and wild dogs.

However Hayla has managed to take her care responsibilities to a whole new level this week, arriving home at 6am after her boundary check with a tiny female possum joey snuggled into the fur on her back.

A joint effort by local wildlife rescue organisations has resulted in a very lucky koala joey nicknamed ‘Vivian’ being released back into the wild after months of treatment and recovery. 

When WIRES volunteers arrived to rescue Vivian last September they had grave concerns for the survival of the tiny 18 month old female koala. She weighed a mere 3kg and had sustained serious internal injuries following an altercation with a dog after wandering into a residential area.