Local wildlife educator Alyce Mason says the key to helping Australia's animals in any extreme weather, be it fire or flood, is to be prepared – and plant trees.

“I’ve always loved wildlife and animals, and I got curious about how to have a more active role in helping,” says Alyce, who joined Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (WIRES) six years ago.

“Not everyone has the time to volunteer for a group like WIRES. But there are things you can do in our everyday lives to help the animals around you. WIRES helps to teach people what they can do.”

WIRES is Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organisation, providing rescue advice and assistance for more than 130,000 animals annually.

Along with her husband, Alyce trained as a volunteer to help injured, ill or displaced animals. With a background in teaching, she later became the education officer for WIRES' Illawarra branch.

“I love to inspire people, especially the younger generation, to really care about animals,” Alyce says. 

“When I do talks with little kids, I’ll say ‘Who loves bats?’ and their hands will go up. When I do it with adults, the opposite is true.

“Kids just have such a wonder and curiosity. I love to keep that alive.”

A slow recovery

According to WWF reports, nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced by Australia’s Black Summer bushfires in 2019-2020.

“Sadly, a lot of species were in a lot of trouble during that time. The impacts were really brutal and we couldn’t rescue them all, but we had increases in calls for animals who might have burns, dehydration, but a big problem was habitat loss,” Alyce says.

“In the time after the fires, there was a real feeling of the local wildlife fighting for habitat and trying to reestablish it.”

Wildlife rescue organisations play a significant role during fires and floods.

“There’s a lot of similarities with extreme weather events. Water and fire actually have very similar impacts on local wildlife,” Alyce says.

“They both cause habitat loss, for example. When you have extreme heat, animals might get dehydrated or experience fatigue, they might be more likely to get hit by cars, or sick. 

“With flooding, they can get caught in floodwaters. They might get separated from their parents or washed away. That can happen with fires too. If they’re escaping fires the little ones might end up in a different place to their parents.”

How to help in extreme conditions

Alyce encourages locals to look out for animals who may be affected by extreme heat or heavy rains, and contact WIRES for guidance.

“You might see animals in areas that aren’t usually their environment. Be careful on the road and keep an eye out in your backyard,” Alyce says.

“Keep a look out for animals that look like they’re waterlogged. If you see a bird or a possum that’s really wet and on the ground somewhere, it might be waterlogged.

“In hot weather we encourage people to put water out for wildlife. We don’t encourage people to feed animals, because it can cause disease. But you can always leave water out and that's going to help an animal who might be dehydrated.”

Alyce recommends placing objects such as sticks or stones in backyard ponds or pools, to assist wildlife in escaping if they are at risk of drowning.

“If you’re not sure, it doesn’t hurt to give us a call and we can talk through and understand what might be happening.”

Plant native trees

Locals can help restore natural habitats or provide shelter for wildlife.

“People can help by planting lots of native trees,” Alyce says. “You can create little places for shelter for our reptiles, for example. There’s lots of ways we can put back into nature what these extreme weather events take away.”

She recommends keeping a rescue kit in the car after extreme weather events. A box, a towel and some gloves could help you transport a distressed or displaced animal.

“In floods, sometimes trees come down, so you can check to see if there was any animals living in that tree, or a nest,” Alyce says.

“We don't encourage people to handle wildlife without the necessary training. We especially wouldn’t encourage anyone to touch a bat or a snake, for example. We have members in WIRES who are vaccinated to be able to handle bats and trained to handle snakes.

"But you might be driving along and come across a waterlogged bird, you might call WIRES and they might encourage you to put a towel over that bird and put it in a box and transport it somewhere.”

‘Warm, Dark and Quiet’

WIRES encourages rescuers to remember the phrase ‘Warm, Dark and Quiet’.

“Stress can kill animals and especially an animal that’s already heat stressed,” Alyce says.

“If you have to transport an animal to a vet, we’ll tell you to put the towel over the bird, put it in the box, put the towel over the box, keep that animal in a quiet, warm and dark place. Keep your car radio off.

“Before it gets assessed, it needs to calm down and those things will help.”

Plan for pets

WIRES follows NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) evacuation plans for animals in their care, and Alyce encourages families to consider their pets in their evacuation plans.

“Planning before things happen helps us manage the animals’ safety as well as our own,” Alyce says.

“Around these times where animals might be moving to different places or dehydrated, they might get attacked by domestic pets. We can keep an eye on our pets and make sure that they’re safe and away from wildlife.”

"Dogs love lizards and cats love birds, they all have that instinct in them. Wildlife might be fleeing through the property and you might want to keep an eye on that as well.”

Find more advice and wildlife news at wires.org.au or call 1300 WIRES or 1300 094 737.