June 14th, 2026Hepburn Wildlife News by Marita McGuirk

Sometimes you just get lucky.

This was the fate of the large kangaroo who was found down a mine shaft in the bush near Creswick, just lucky. The bush is full of mine shafts, remnants of the gold mining era.
Many of them have been filled in, but there are still too many out there that are uncovered and these are a deep pit of death for any animal unlucky enough to be trapped inside.
Most animals know their patch of bush; they know where the hazards are, and the dangerous areas to avoid.
But when they are frightened, such as happens when trail bike riders roar their machines around, the animals of the bush just try to get away from the scary noise, and can end up caught in a fence, jumping in front of cars or going down a mine shaft. This is not something that would ordinarily happen, it is a flight response to fear.
A local couple walking their dog were alerted to the kangaroo’s plight, when their dog ran over to the mine shaft and started whining. They quickly got in touch with the local wildlife rescuers. When the wildlife rescuers arrived, they decided that the best course of action was to tranquilise the kangaroo. They were lowered halfway down the shaft, where they could tranquilise him with a dart gun. He was then lifted up and out of the mine shaft.
The kangaroo was coated in mud from being down the wet mine shaft. He was weak from lack of food and hypothermic from having cold, wet fur over a prolonged period of time.
At the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter volunteers helped provide a flow of buckets of warm water to wash the mud from the tranquilised kangaroo. He was then kept in a warm room, and fed good quality hay, kangaroo pellets and grated apple with sweet potato.
It took him a couple of weeks to recover from his ordeal. Gayle Chappell tells me that he was an exceptionally good-natured kangaroo and a delight to nurture back to health.
After he had recovered, he was released back to his home territory.
Hepburn Wildlife Shelter is raising funds to help complete a joey hospital. If you can help out please head to the GoFundMe page that’s raising funds to help us finish the joey hospital this winter. Link: https://gofund.me/09179bd3b

Dr Marita McGuirk is a field ecologist and environmental scientist, and a volunteer at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter. Marita writes monthly columns about the shelter and the animals it cares for. If you would like to donate or volunteer, or just to find out more information, head to www.hepburnwildlifeshelter.org