The ACT Government is helping local environmental volunteers fight wombat mange in the ACT, providing funding to fight the itchy disease as well as launching new easy-to-use portal to track wombat sightings.
“Our native wombats are precious native animals, but they are susceptible to a debilitating skin infection caused by parasitic mites that burrow into the skin, often killing them,” Minister for the Environment, Rebecca Vassarotti said.
“Until recently, there hasn’t been dedicated, targeted funding for community groups to help the plight of wombats in the ACT. That is why I was delighted to provide $30,000 funding in the 2021-22 ACT Budget, as well as provide Canberrans with new resources at their fingertips to help target wombat mange.
“From today, the community can report wombat sightings through a new web portal so ACT Wildlife and Wombat Rescue can coordinate a quick response and provide treatment to sick and injured wombats if possible. This easy-to-use portal is one part of a larger project to attack wombat mange.
“A program to treat this mange in wombats will form part of a broader forthcoming wombat management strategy for the ACT, which will aim to maintain healthy and sustainable populations of wombats as part of our iconic native biodiversity of this region.
“The wombat mange project will deliver coordinated and comprehensive treatment across the ACT. The government is working with ACT Wildlife and Wombat Rescue to map wombat abundance and distribution in the ACT, including where there are occurrences of mange, so we have improved data on our populations and can better coordinate and target treatment where necessary.
“I welcome the involvement of ACT Wildlife and Wombat Rescue volunteers and University of Tasmania ecologists, whose extensive experience with treating wombats with mange is significantly helping to control this debilitating disease.”
This initiative progresses a commitment of the Parliamentary Agreement of the 10th Legislative Assembly by the ACT Labor-Greens Government.
You can find the new web portal linked to the ACT Government ArcGIS system
