• Werribee, Hoppers Crossing, Point Cook Star

By Bridie Byrne

9th February 2010 11:05:21 AM

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Animal rescuer … Greg Gordon hopes native animals will not need him this bushfire season. 42504 Picture: SARAH MATRAY

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HOPPERS Crossing resident Greg Gordon saved dozens of native animals from being perished a year ago.

The Wildlife Victoria volunteer helped save kangaroos, wombats, koalas, birds and possums during the Black Saturday bushfires.

But he said for many of them it was too late as attempted rescues turned into mercy killings.

“By the time we were escorted in to some areas, many animals were already goners and all we could do was put them down,” he said.

“We saw bats and possums falling out of trees.”

Greg spent six weeks at St Andrews, which he described as horrendous.

The Victoria University animal technician lecturer has spent his life rescuing and rehabilitating native animals.

He was recently recognised for his excellence in teaching at VU’s 2009 Vice Chancellor’s Staff Awards for helping the university develop one of Australia’s only qualifications in wildlife rehabilitation.

The six-month TAFE course, The Husbandry and Rehabilitation of Wildlife, was developed in partnership with Wildlife Victoria.

“We give them the basics of rescuing, handling, transporting and animal first-aid,” Mr Gordon said.

“Since the bushfires, there is a high demand for the course and we have people on the waiting list.”

Greg has been bitten, scratched and kicked over the years, but he remains passionate about helping the animals.

“We have an ethical responsibility to help stricken animals, especially those that are injured as a direct consequence of human development,” he said.

To become a Wildlife Victoria volunteer phone 9919 8113.

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