IN THE MEDIA

A BUDERIM mother who helped rescue an injured endangered owl was relieved late yesterday to find he was not paralysed as first suspected.

But Marie Visintin was still reeling from more than two hours of distressing phone calls trying to affect the rescue after finding the owl wedged in a gum tree.

She said she encountered “cruel indifference” from wildlife and bird organisations, with one person telling her the owl’s rescue would be a waste of time because it would probably die anyway.

Mrs Visintin said she eventually reached the Australian Wildlife Hospital at Beerwah, which had a crew at the Ballinger Road block with a 15-foot ladder in 10 minutes.

“The owl was in so much agony, we couldn’t leave it there,” she said.

“The indifference of most of the people I spoke to was just cruel, it’s like leaving a child up there.

“We won’t have anything left in our bush if we don’t look after what we have now.”

The Australian Wildlife Hospital manager Gail Gipp said the juvenile owl, which will have a metre wingspan when it becomes an adult, would probably be released tonight after its flying ability is assessed.

If you have a wildlife emergency phone the Wilvos on 5441 2600 or the Australian Wildlife Hospital on 1300 369 652.