Clean-up Australia day encourages locals to get involved in conservation

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Currumbin wildlife hospital is seeing an increase in turtles and birds being injured by hooks and soft plastics discarded in our waterways. For clean-up Australia day – volunteers are gathering in the Gold Coast to remove plastic waste from the beach and waterways to help save sea life.

Transcript

00:00 A lot of fishing hooks and lures, fishing line tangled around wings of a lot of our

00:08 birds such as seagulls, pelicans and our fishing raptors like sea eagles and Brahminy kites.

00:14 And ultimately they can constrict to a point where it will cut off the circulation and

00:19 they can lose a leg, it can get infected, those injuries.

00:22 So as well as you can see a number of turtles will come in, they get constricted around

00:26 their limbs.

00:27 So it's all pretty horrific stuff but something we can easily change in Clean Up Australia

00:32 Day is a good way to start that.

00:34 Yeah, I'll ask you about how we can maybe change our habits a little bit in just a moment.

00:39 Are you seeing a spike in species that are being injured?

00:44 It's more so about the number of species that are getting injured at the moment.

00:49 So obviously the Gold Coast is a very popular place, very outdoor lifestyle which is great

00:53 but as a result of that the population is increasing so more people are on the waterways,

00:59 that means more people doing recreational fishing and that's great.

01:02 We love an outdoor lifestyle but it's about being responsible and we'd love to see those

01:07 numbers going down at our hospital.

01:08 Unfortunately they're increasing.

01:10 If we could get those numbers going down that would be a great win for us.

01:14 Alright, so you're obviously there today cleaning up the waterways but what are some tips that

01:19 you could advise people to do when they're out enjoying our lovely waterways?

01:26 It's about being responsible human beings in life in general really to be honest.

01:30 But as far as fishing goes, make sure if you cut your line that you collect all that fishing

01:36 line and all that tackle.

01:38 There's several places where you can go and they will recycle all your fishing gear so

01:42 just do a quick Google search and you'll find those places.

01:45 One thing I do is when I take my kids and the family to the beach we always pick up

01:49 three items.

01:50 So if you use that philosophy that when you're out and about pick up three items.

01:54 If everyone did that we'd reduce so much waste by such a simple effort in every single person.

01:59 So if everyone tips in and does a little bit, know that every time you pick up a little

02:04 bit of rubbish around the waterways in particular you are saving our native wildlife.

02:10 Yeah, that's a great tip Anthony.

02:12 And what can someone do if they see an injured animal out there?

02:17 Who can they call if they're not necessarily near you to bring it in?

02:21 What should they do?

02:22 There's a number of places depending where you are.

02:25 Usually there's a local wild carer near you, an organisation.

02:30 Wild Care is quite a national one.

02:33 We have our wildlife hospital here.

02:35 We have ambulances that can go out and collect animals.

02:37 But usually Wild Care or a Wild Care organisation in your area, give them a call.

02:42 They've got people who deal in all sorts of species.

02:45 They can go out and collect those animals, get them to the nearest wildlife hospital

02:49 like the one here at Corumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

02:51 We can treat those animals and hopefully we can save them and get them back out into the

02:55 wild.

02:56 That's what it's all about, looking after our native wildlife.

02:58 So the beauty of today, Clean Up Australia Day, is that it coincides with World Wildlife

03:03 Day today.

03:04 That's a perfect opportunity to say to everyone, do your bit today.

03:08 Let's look after the environment.

03:10 If we do that, then we'll help save our native wildlife.

03:13 And that's what it's all about.

03:14 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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