Ten wombats, including four nursing mothers, have been deliberately run over and killed at a NSW camping ground.
Police were called to the Bendeela camping site near Kangaroo Valley on Saturday and found eight dead animals. Another two were discovered yesterday.
Miraculously, one wombat joey was rescued, pulled uninjured from the pouch of its dead mother. Now named “Lucky”, the joey (pictured above), estimated to be around five months old, faces a battle for survival.
Police are now seeking help identifying the culprits. Witnesses have reported a white four-wheel drive in the area on both nights but no one saw the animals being hit.
Police Inspector Susan Charman-Horton said the car involved would likely be damaged.
“The wombats are shaped like a bowling ball. They’re quite strong, quite round, quite hard, quite heavy,” she said.
Richard Woodman from Wildlife Rescue South Coast was appalled anyone would intentionally harm such beautiful creatures.
“I can’t believe that there are people in the community that would go around and deliberately do that,” he said.
“It’s bad enough when you’re driving along and you accidentally impact a wombat, but to deliberately leave the paved area, the roadway, and go into open ground and run over an animal, is unconscionable.”
Lucky will spend the next 13 months in the care of Wildlife Rescue South Coast, who will rehabilitate her and release her back into the wild when she is around 18 months old.
