Prisoners nurse injured wildlife to health at Beechworth Correctional Centre

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Beechworth prison in Victoria is helping take pressure off overwhelmed local wildlife shelters by taking in more than a hundred injured animals and pairing them with prison inmates. The prisoners learning valuable skills and lessons for life after their release.

Transcript

00:00Wombats, eagles and snakes aren't your typical inhabitants of a prison.

00:07We've got king parrots, 20 frogmouths, we've got a couple of eagles that we take care of as well.

00:12We've got a wombat, we're still bottle feeding and stuff like that since it was so little.

00:16These injured native animals are doing time in the Beechworth Minimum Security Prison,

00:21where local inmates are learning how to help them recover.

00:24When they first come in sometimes they can be pretty temperamental, depending on what sort of animal,

00:28whether it's a snake or all the wombats or all the joeys and stuff like that.

00:32Normally they're pretty good, they get used to us and then towards the end we sort of have to wean them away from us anyway,

00:37to make sure that they survive in the wild.

00:39But sometimes it can become unclear just who is rehabilitating who.

00:44I've done a lot of programs, everything they offer, but nothing compares to this.

00:48I've seen a few go, a few birds that we've watched nurse back to health.

00:52It's a good feeling, it's bittersweet I guess.

00:56You can see their attitude, their demeanour has changed a lot once they get into that area.

01:02Both the prisoners and the wildlife are working towards a shared goal of reintegrating into life on the outside.

01:08And those running the program say the benefits don't stop at the gates.

01:12I think it's really important to understand that we're at a minimum security prison,

01:16and a lot of the blokes out here are in the transition phase and they'll be back out in the community soon.

01:20So I think it's really important for them to build their confidence, team working skills,

01:24all the skills that will help them get a job upon release.

01:27And it's been a winner with local wildlife shelters too.

01:30It was originally with Healesville Sanctuary,

01:32and now we've probably got four other shelters involved because they're under pressure.

01:38You build a bond with them, knowing that you're giving something a second chance,

01:42like we're all hoping for second chances when we get out.

01:45Looking forward to a future of flying free.

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