Wombats suffer with Mange

Warning: This is a post about an unpleasant subject - a Wombat with severe Sarcoptic Mange.

It is published in the interests of public information. Difficult issues are discussed, and unpleasant images shown. If you are sensitive - kindly do not proceed to read any further. I will welcome you back tomorrow.

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Shortly after I moved to Robertson I saw a Wombat out and about in daylight. It was near a road (itself a dangerous thing for all concerned). On closer examination, it was obviously nearly bald. I made some inquiries and was told two things - Wombats get Mange (supposedly from Foxes); and that the mange causes them to get ill, go blind and eventually die.

Today there was a Wombat wandering around on my neighbour's property, in the late afternoon. It was feeding actively, but its behaviour was sufficiently unusual it had not only attracted my attention, but that of another neighbour, Matt. We both grabbed our cameras, and we walked out to look at it.We ended up standing right beside the poor animal, which was obviously severely infested with the mites which cause "Sarcoptic Mange". You can see the sunken eyes, and the very heavily crusted nose.
If you Google "Wombat + Mange" you will get a number of links. Some will tell you that mange in Wombats is treatable, but in reality, that advice is probably only applicable to people able to care more-or-less full time for wombats. Many Wombats are raised by licensed Carers (with WIRES and other such animal rescue organisations).

After I returned home, I found that Matt had quickly sent me another (more realistic) viewpoint - from this site:
"Wombats that I won't treat -
1. Any adult wombat that is in the last stages of mange i.e. has huge crusts on most of its body and head, crusting over its eyes and ears, open wounds often fly-blown and the wombat is thin and often with nasal discharge. The animal will be seen grazing during the day probably to get warm in the sun, or is nearly blind so can't see the danger. It will be relatively easy to catch. This wombat is very ill and if left will die in a few weeks from starvation and pneumonia. If treated the wombat will be subjected to long and cruel handling and will probably not survive anyway. If he does he will most certainly get the mange again in 3-6 months. The immune system is completely failing and I feel it is irresponsible to put an animal through so much pain and fear for it not to be successful and have a good outlook for a full recovery."

Clearly there are different "protocols" recommended by different experts.I left this Wombat to its own resources - for as far as I was concerned it was untreatable - but it was still feeding actively. However, for the record, I report that it was pretty obviously blind, or very nearly so (and pretty obviously nearly deaf too). The ears were totally "clumped" and the eyes were not only white (as if with cataracts), but also weeping with puss. Its skin was very badly caked on one of its flanks, and its nose was thickly crusted with scabs. I can also say that it really stank, (up close).A few minutes after I left the Wombat, I heard a shot ring out from up the road. I can only assume that one of the other locals (a farmer, no doubt) had assessed the situation was hopeless, and had put the Wombat down. I can say that I do not know exactly who did what, (I know it was certainly not Matt) but I know why the obvious action would have been taken - as a compassionate act - by a person unknown to me.

Such is life.

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One of the websites I looked at tonight (Sorry, I cannot find the comment again) addressed the issue well - by expressing the following conundrum:

It is illegal to kill a wombat (even a sick one),
but if a farmer or a pet-owner left a domestic animal
or a farm animal alive - in such a condition,
that person could be prosecuted for cruelty to an animal.