The Reality of Emergency Wildlife Rescue: A System in Crisis
Inspired by Krysti Severi’s Parliamentary Submission
He was lying on the side of the new Aitken Boulevard Extension in Donnybrook. Two broken legs. Still breathing. By the time I arrived, he was gone.
There was nowhere to take his body back to nature. Temporary fencing had been erected all around. No way in. No way out. Just another kangaroo lost to progress.
This is not an isolated tragedy. It’s a daily reality for wildlife rescuers across Australia. And thanks to Krysti Severi—wife, mother, daughter, friend, and high-volume rescuer—it was finally spoken aloud in Parliament.
Krysti’s words were raw, unflinching, and necessary. She spoke for every rescuer who’s held a dying joey, every carer who’s watched a mob pushed out by bulldozers and fencing, every volunteer who’s burned out from grief and still shows up.
“We pour our hearts and souls into rescue. We give everything. And still—we are broken. Financially. Emotionally. Personally. And worst of all—the animals still suffer.”
The Toll of Relentless Rescue
Krysti’s submission painted a devastating picture:
Kangaroos hit by cars, left to die without help
Joeys calling out for mothers who will never answer
Rescuers making the agonizing decision to end suffering
Wildlife networks stretched thin, cases sitting for hours
DEECA granting permits to raise joeys—and to shoot them
Bodies left to rot, wounds riddled with infection, maggots alive in flesh
This is not humane. This is not regulated. This is not acceptable.
And it’s happening everywhere.
Across WA, Victoria, and beyond, kangaroos are being landlocked by development. Fences where there shouldn’t be. No fences where there must be. Mobs trapped in industrial zones, housing estates, cleared farmland. Starving. Stressed. Sick.
And still, the complaints roll in:
“The kangaroos are a nuisance.” No. The nuisance is our failure to coexist.
What Needs to Change
Krysti’s call to action was clear and urgent:
Wildlife-safe infrastructure: signage, flashing lights, reduced speed limits, clear roadside planning
Education: wildlife awareness in schools, driver training, rescue numbers on licences
Public campaigns: prime-time ads, not buried at 2:48am
Legislation: mandatory reporting of animal collisions, independent oversight of wildlife permits
Support for rescuers: trauma care, funding, recognition as essential responders
We cry out against cruelty overseas—Yulin, whaling, poaching. But here, in our own backyard, we treat our native animals with contempt. Kangaroos are not pests. They are not vermin. They are not meat to be marketed as “ethically sourced.”
They are the soul of this land.
A Challenge to Parliament—and to Us All
Krysti ended with a challenge:
“Spend just one day with us. Walk beside us. See what we see. Feel the weight of an animal’s suffering pressing down on your shoulders.”
This is not about sympathy. It’s about understanding. It’s about change.
We cannot keep relying on kangaroos to survive on luck alone. We cannot keep asking rescuers to carry the burden without support. And we cannot keep pretending this isn’t happening.
Because it is. Every day. Every night. And it has to end.
Let Krysti’s words echo. Let our stories rise. And let this be the moment we stop building over life—and start building with it.
Read Krysti’s full Parliamentary Speech ~
“Inquiry into Wildlife Road Strike” HERE
Karli, left all alone in her mother’s pouch. Her mum had died, in a hit & run tragedy.. The ravens had already begun to feed. She was still alive—terrified, in pain, and calling out for help. Imagine her confusion. Her fear. Her heartbreak. This is the reality we face. This is why we fight.