Mammals

You should pick the baby up if you cannot find where it belongs. Keep it in a warm, dark and quiet place. Return the baby to the same site after dark and try to find its mother. A young animal will make crying noises to call to its mother. If the mother is nearby she will come and collect it. Monitor the baby from a distance in case the mother does not return (she will not return if you are too close). You should also plan what you will do, who you will take the baby to or how you will look after the baby if it is abandoned. It is easier to determine whether the animal needs your help if you know the animal's habits.

Lumholtz Tree Kangaroo

Flying foxes are nocturnal animals and are likely to need your help if you find them in the daylight. Orphaned flying foxes may be found hanging on to or below power lines. If the young is still attached to the power line, call your local electricity supplier. Do not attempt to retrieve it yourself. A mother will not retrieve a baby bat from the ground. If you find a flying fox, contact the RSPCA or your local wildlife care group as only registered and trained bat carers who are vaccinated against lyssavirus can care for flying foxes or insectivorous bats.

You should only collect immature marsupials that are in the open during the day or are injured. For instance, quolls, phascogales, antechinus, planigales, kowaris and dunnarts produce litters of young that stay in the pouch for a relatively short time and are left in the den when the mother forages for food. When they first leave the pouch, the animals look as though they have been abandoned - they can barely crawl, are not yet covered in fur and are unable to control their own body temperature.