A couple of days before last Christmas (2013), we experienced a sad and traumatic event.
Over several days our three adult kangaroos at the house in town where we are living, had stopped eating and become lethargic. On this particular afternoon we became increasingly worried about Naru. She stood determined but unsteady in a corner while her very young joey, Bambi, drank milk from her, then she collapsed onto the ground, exhausted and obviously very ill.
We called the vet and Bob carried Naru into the house. The usual Kangaroo Island vet was on holidays, and two fill-in vets from the mainland arrived to do what they could, but our beautiful girl died several hours later with us holding and comforting her.
An autopsy that night found that something corrosive had eaten all her stomach lining away, and other organs were badly affected too. She must have been in great pain, and there was nothing anyone could have done to save her.
Shalom Valley Farm is a sanctuary not only for our hand-raised kangaroos, but for all the other creatures that call our farm their home
Next day Bob thoroughly scoured every part of the yard at the house, but could find nothing that could have harmed our kangaroo children. The vets were unable to say what might have caused our ‘kids’ to become ill and the massive internal damage Naru suffered.
Naturally we were devastated at her death, and desperately worried we might lose our other sick kangas too. Thankfully they gradually recovered over the following week or so, and have completely regained their good health.
We still worry though. What caused this calamity? What if it happens again? We live with that fear.
We took Naru to the the farm, and buried her beneath one of the stately old gumtrees in the paddock where she would soon have been roaming free with the rest of our kangaroo family.
Meanwhile her little joey, Bambi, was motherless and keeping close to her auntie Lauru and her father Royru for comfort. Then an amazing thing happened – Lauru adopted Bambi! It showed us yet again the close family relationships kangaroos have, and their concern for one another.
Shalom Valley Farm is a sanctuary not only for our hand-raised kangaroos, but for the wild kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, echidnas, possums, native birds and all the other creatures that call our farm their home. Naru’s death has made us even more determined to move from the town to the farm as soon as possible. And to raise the money needed to ensure it is permanently a safe haven for Australian wildlife.
Over the next months we will be fundraising to secure the future of the farm as a wildlife sanctuary, and seeking people who would enjoy adopting a kangaroo for a year.
Funds raised will help pay vet bills, buy extra fodder, build shelters, and help us erect secure boundary fencing to keep wildlife safe from traffic on the roads. In Australia many kangaroos are killed by cars every year, often leaving behind joeys to die a slow death from exposure or starvation, unless they are found and brought to wildlife carers like us.
Fundraising will also help with the purchase and planting of more shade and shelter trees, food trees for koalas and nesting places for the many kinds of native birds. We also envisage eventually building a community house where volunteers can stay while helping with the animals and learning more about nature.
Please help us achieve our goal of helping the wildlife at the farm. Your donations, buying from our online store, or sponsoring one of the kangaroos, will help secure the future for some of Australia’s wonderful native animals.