Jenny Mattingley, Ken Rook and Reg Mattingley partner up for a new project to treat wombats with mange. The Pakenham Rotary Club is supporting the project. 76043
By Danielle Galvin
Pictures:
Kim
Cartmell
AFTER 22 years of caring for more than 400 displaced wombats, Reg and Jenny Mattingley are moving on from their Maryknoll wildlife shelter and leading the charge against the infestation that could wipe out the wombat population.
The Mattingleys are the first in Victoria to introduce a radical plan to find a prevention and treatment for mange in wombats, an infestation that slowly kills the animals in a “cruel and unfair death”.
“It’s an infestation not a disease that can takes months to kill them. That’s the cruel aspect, they are doomed to die,” Jenny said.
But this year, with the help of the Wombat Protection Society in New South Wales, the Mattingleys are downsizing their Maryknoll ranch and moving, spreading the word about a simple and cost-effective way to treat mange in wombats.
They are bringing the simple burrow flap design to Victorians home owners, Landcare groups and anyone interested in helping fight the deadly attack before it wipes out the wombat population.
“Wombats with obvious signs of mange are treated weekly. The burrow flap gives the wombat a dose of cydectin on its back as it leaves the burrow,” she said.
It can work as a treatment option as well as a preventative.
“Ideally, what would be good would be a one-off treatment, that would be great. But there’s a need for prevention, too, and this burrow device is so simple we’re hoping people embrace it,” she said.
Without treating mange, Jenny and Reg are concerned that it could wipe out populations of wombats in pockets across Victoria before wiping them out completely.
“We recently cared for a baby wombat with mange that had been abandoned, it wasn’t more than two kilograms. It still had its hair but was emaciated and so weak it was unable to open its eyes. It died soon after,” she said.
“We would like farmers and landowners to know that they need to dispose of a wombat who has died from mange properly.”
With the help of the Pakenham Rotary Club and other groups, the Mattingleys are hoping to spread the word and fund the project.
Ken Rook from the Pakenham Rotary Club brought his grandsons Harry and Mitch to the Maryknoll shelter last week for a play with wombats William and Scully.
The club donated $500 to get the project going.
“We’ve been supporting them for a few years now. We give them support on an annual basis, and this is such a good, worthwhile program,” he said.
“It’s such a sad sight to see the wombats with mange, so we didn’t hesitate.”
The Mattingleys have the sort of property where echidnas roam free, magpies get fed ox heart everyday and animal enclosures take up the backyard. It’s sort of place that any animal lover would call heaven.
Jenny says it’s not easy to say goodbye to the property, the house and the memories that have kept her and Reg in Maryknoll for more than two decades.
“It’s really only now that I can face it, and be okay with moving on and leaving it. We’ve thought about this for 18 months. But I think the fact that we’ve got another project to sink our teeth into, that makes it that much easier,” she said.
