Urgent Food Appeal For Animals In Care
Right now, Hunter Wildlife Rescue volunteers are hand-feeding over 150 orphaned native animals — around the clock, entirely unpaid. Every bottle, every tin of formula, every feed comes out of a volunteer’s own pocket. We subsidise these costs but we’re at breaking point. Please help us feed our native animals in care.
We become the mother they’ve lost
It’s baby season, and our 100% volunteer network is stretched to breaking point. Every joey, every nestling, every puggle in our care needs specialised formula, fed around the clock — funded entirely by community donations and our carers’ own pockets.
Feeding the animals currently in our care will cost more than $200,000 over the coming months. On top of that, the arrival of H5N1 bird flu means our bird rescuers now need PPE for every bird callout — another cost with no government funding behind it.
Our team responds to over 6,000 calls for help from the Hunter community each year. We estimate our volunteers provide an estimated $2.847 million in unpaid time each year. We’re asking the community and local businesses to help us cover what it actually costs to keep these animals alive and get them back out into the wild.
Animals currently in care… as at 1 September 2026
The cost of getting animals back to the wild…
The food costs are only part of it. There’s medicine, veterinary care, rescue and rehabilitation equipment, and emergency gear for disaster response. Our rescuers even fund their own fuel.
They don’t complain. They know what they signed up for, and they do it out of love for wildlife found nowhere else on Earth. But after all the hours they already give — how much of the financial burden should be theirs to carry alone?
How your donation is used
Hunter Wildlife Rescue is 100% volunteer-run so no matter how big or small, our tax-deductible donation will be gratefully received. Your donation will go towards the rescue, rehabilitation and care of injured, distressed or sick native animals from Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter Valley. Some of the things your donation may be used for:
No credit card? No problem. We accept donations via bank transfer too.
Submit this form to receive instructions on how to make donations via Direct Deposit or by Cheque or Money Order.