REUNITE POSSUMS
**FAUNA RESCUE OF SA PROGRAM INITIATIVE**
the reuniting / RINGTAIL WILDLING RELEASE PROGRAM –
A PREFERRED OPTION TO HANDREARING!
Reuniting Brushtails and Ringtail Joeys
The Reuniting and Ringtail Wildling Release Program is an initiative founded by one of our member’s who through her research and experiences has been very successful in reuniting Brushtail and Ringtail joeys with their mums. Fauna Rescue of SA Inc would like to share some information regarding this exciting programme!
What to do as a member of the public if you find a joey?
- Record the exact address where the joey came from – we depend on the information provided by the member of the public and it is extremely useful if you take photos of where the possum was found, including the tree if relevant and a dropped pin in Google maps.
**DO NOT LEAVE THE JOEY UNDER THE TREE** joeys are unable to regulate their temperature, require feeding and toileting.
The very best option for a rescued joey is to organise getting it to an experienced wildlife carer or vet immediately.
Possums in South Australia
- How to tell the difference between a brushtail and a ringtail
- Researching Reuniting
- Reuniting Statistics
PLEASE CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO READ FURTHER DETAILS OF
The Reuniting / Ringtail Wildling Release Program
PLEASE DON’T ATTEMPT TO REUNITE without the guidance and advice of an advanced carer who specialises in reunites to help
you or come with you as there are many factors you need to take into consideration.
RINGTAIL WILDLING RELEASE PROGRAM
The Ringtail Wildling Release Program is in its infancy and is designed to re-intergrate ringtails only back with their family if you have an exact location.
POSSUM CALLS – audio RECORDINGS
If you do not know what the calls a possum joey makes to its mother sounds like – please click the buttons below to hear the specific species audio recordings.
If you hear these calls in your garden or out walking start searching the location there may be an orphaned joey.
Note Brushtails possums normally only have one (1) joey while Ringtail possums usually have twins or triplets.
POSSUM REUNITE – Video Recordings
Here are a few short videos of our success this Spring and the back story including pictures.
The small team is out every night reuniting, and currently we have reunited, *62* joeys from 1 September 2023 to 12 May 2024 compared to 84 last year in 12 months.
We have experienced that not all reunites occur on the first attempt and joeys appear to be a twin or triplet.
We would like to point out that even though the video footage is 40 seconds there is a full reunite process in place. This can take up to 3 hours and multiple attempts to search for mum and assess each individual reunite case (no two reunites are the same)!
Please don’t attempt to reunite without the guidance and advice of an advanced carer who specialises in reunites to help
you or come with you as there are many factors you need to take into consideration.
Weather plays a huge part in reuniting!
This Spring we have had rain and wind but on this night it was unusually foggy up at Mt Barker.
One of our carers received a 82g female ringtail which the member of the public found under their car in the driveway and thought it was deceased.
After assessing, warming up and providing electrolytes, the ringtail joey became strong enough to reunite. We located Mum who also had a joey on her back, she is a twin!
Great work by all involved to get this one back – rescue, rehabilitate, reunite/release!
Brushtail Reunite Success – September 2023
We received a text for a possible reunite for a 239gm female brushtail possum at Flinders Medical Centre.
We walked the area for 3 hours – as normal we were going to call it a night when we thought we would do one more sweep and came upon a tree that the security guard told us earlier in the night a possum is usually seen in this tree. You would not believe it….she was at the top of the tree coming down.
Ringtail Reunite Success – October 2023
We also received a call from a vet clinic for a 102g female ringtail which was brought into the home by a cat at Hazelwood Park.
After vet check and being in care for observation, she was also successfully reunited after several attempts.
Ringtail Reunite Success
We received a call for a 87g male ringtail found on the ground at Happy Valley BMX park.
We were met by the member of public to show us the exact location and were fortunate to find mum for a successful reunite.
Ringtail Unsuccessful – October 2023
Ringtail Reunite Success – October 2023
Here is a beautiful video of a 91gm female ringtail busily feeding on tips. This was the second ringtail joey in two weeks which was brought into the home by a cat in Blackwood.
After a vet check and not appearing to have puncture wounds, she stayed in care for observation. She was then successfully reunited back with her mum!
Coincidentally, this joey was from the same address another joey was found last year under similar circumstances – it was our first reunite last season 2022.
Wires National Wildlife Network Autumn 2024 Update!
Exciting news – We are thrilled Fauna Rescue of SA Inc has been featured in the Wires National Wildlife Network Autumn 2024 Update!
The featured topic is our Reuniting / Ringtail Wilding Release program initiative.
Here is a copy of the article titled “A second chance at a wild life: The benefits and success factors of possum reuniting“
Should you have any questions regarding young joeys or possible reunites please contact the Fauna Rescue hotline on (08) 8289 0896.
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