Hand-Raising a Rescued Baby Echidna

No two days, weeks or years are ever the same at our Taronga Wildlife Hospital and that's certainly the case for one of our amazing vet nurses Sarah who is currently hand-raising an adorable echidna puggle.

The puggle was bought into the hospital after members of the public saw it drop about 4m to the ground from a tree. The puggle had scratches to its back so it’s suspected that it was taken from its burrow by a bird of prey before being dropped after proving an unsuccessful meal.

Following an initial assessment at the hospital, Sarah is now responsible for hand-raising the puggle. This includes second-daily feeds of a specially formulated echidna milk formula which the puggle laps off her palm followed by a bath. The puggle then returns to its makeshift burrow to sleep off the feed for 48 hours before Sarah repeats the process all-over again.

Sarah has been a keeper at Taronga for 28 years, working with a range of animals from primates to birds, but for the last decade or so has been dedicated to helping the wildlife rescue cases that come into the Taronga wildlife hospital.

Hats off to Sarah and all our amazing team who aside from turning up day in day out in some tough conditions also quite literally take their work home with them.

Help our nurses continue to do the amazing work they do by donating to our Wildlife Recovery Appeal: taronga.org.au/wildlife-recovery

#tarongatv #forthewild
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Taronga Conservation Society Australia is an Australian Government based, non-profit organisation which works to conserve wildlife and habitat across Australia and the world.