A female kangaroo has been euthanised and its joey has drowned after the two became trapped in the Coliban Water Channel near Elphinstone.
Wildlife rescuer Ian Slattery attended the incident and said the female kangaroo was found lying in two feet of water with a ripped patella, “a death sentence for kangaroos”, while its joey lay in her pouch submerged under water the entire time. The mother was euthanised after the rescue due to the nature of the injury.
“The fact she was carrying a live joey that drowned just makes it all that much worse,” Slattery said.
He told the Express in April, “We have for years been asking Coliban to make their water channels safe and they have done absolutely nothing about it”.
A Coliban Water spokesperson said at the time they were completing analysis to understand wildlife movement along the channel “to inform our decision-making around the installation of additional wildlife crossings”. They were contacted for comment regarding an update on their analysis but did not respond.
Slattery said he had since responded to at least three other kangaroo rescues in the water channel and had no doubts other rescuers would have attended similar incidents in the channel.
“We went out to rescue one kangaroo in the Coliban [recently] and we found eight other kangaroos dead in the water,” he said.
“Gayle Tierney, the Minister for Water, needs to act on this and be directing Coliban Water to be safe for wildlife. It ought to be a legislative requirement.”
Tierney was also contacted for comment but did not respond.
Wildlife Victoria confirmed there has been “an uptick in native wildlife trapped in the Coliban Water Channel since the end of 2023, with continued growth”.
Woodend MP Georgie Purcell raised the issue of trapped wildlife in the Coliban’s channel during parliament and Tierney responded with confirmation Coliban Water would meet with Macedon Ranges Wildlife Network. Purcell said this was yet to occur.
“Our request to confirm a meeting time has not been answered,” she said.
