26 May Bubba Rosso
Not every bushfire victim has burns and bandages!
Bubba Rosso was one of the very first bushfire orphans in the Snowy Mountains region.
He was called in by a NSW Rural Fire Service officer at Perisher on the morning of Sunday 5th January, the initial weekend of the Snowy Mountains bushfire crisis. He was discovered as a pinky joey in his mum’s pouch – she had been fatally hit by a car as traffic started to exit the region en masse due to mandatory tourist evacuation orders.
Initially weighing in at 274 grams with no fur, ears up and eyes only just opening, a couple of LAOKO (Snowy Mountains Wildlife Rescue) carers were able to provide the warmth and nourishment he needed.
There were no signs of visible injury so they gave this fella a chance… and look at him today! Thanks to a healthy appetite for marsupial milk formula, he weighs in at a whopping 4kgs, is fully furred and full of beans! He will stay with his carers for approximately two years before being released into the wild.
Bubba Rosso is just one of hundreds of bushfire victims that have been treated and cared for in the Snowy region since New Year’s Eve. Not all have made it, but animals like Bubba Rosso make the pain and sorrow of such losses so much more bearable.
We hope to find a suitable buddy for him soon… in the meantime he is getting up to all kinds of shenanigans with his carers in Jindabyne!