Rescue. Rehabilitate. Return to the wild.
Totally Untamed is a hands-on native wildlife rescue and rehabilitation service. We treat rescue and rehabilitation as two distinct jobs — and we do both with care, transparency and a stubborn commitment to getting animals home.
Rescue
Reaching the animal, fast and safely
Rehabilitate
Permitted care that builds them back up
Release
Home to the habitat they came from
Rebuild the sector
Fixing what's broken, with real tools
Rescue and rehabilitation are not the same thing
The wildlife sector often blurs these together. We keep them separate because they need different skills, permits and follow-through — and because the public deserves to know exactly who does what.
Getting to the animal
- Responding to a report of a sick, injured or orphaned native animal
- Safe capture, containment and transport
- Getting it to a vet or registered carer fast
Getting it home
- Ongoing care, feeding and medical support under permit
- Building fitness and natural behaviour back up
- Assessing, then releasing to suitable habitat
Native wildlife we care for
We rescue and rehabilitate all native wildlife. From possums and magpies to echidnas, turtles, gliders and raptors — if it's native and it's in trouble, it matters.
Brushtail Possum
Orphaned joeys, roof evictions and vehicle strikes are the daily reality. Warmth, dark and quiet first — then a carer.
Magpie
Fledglings on the ground are often fine. Real trouble looks like injury, entanglement or a cat encounter.
Short-beaked Echidna
Never dig one out or relocate it far — a hidden puggle may be in a burrow nearby. Contain gently, call for advice.
We fix the things that don't work
Totally Untamed exists because the wildlife sector's communication and coordination is broken. Carers burn out, information is scattered, and animals fall through the gaps. We're self-funded and independent — which means we can be honest about what's not working and build practical fixes for it.
A small, self-funded team with a stubborn mission
Who we are, what we stand for, who we work alongside, and why we keep showing up for native wildlife.
Totally Untamed Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation
We're a native wildlife rescue and rehabilitation service based in Hampton Park, Victoria. Totally Untamed is privately self-funded, supported by limited grants and community donations — not by industry funding or coordinated sector services.
That independence is the point. It lets us focus on the animals in front of us, tell the truth about the state of the sector, and build the practical fixes that larger, slower structures never get to.
What we stand for
Rescue ≠ rehabilitation
We name these as two distinct jobs, with different skills and permits, so the public and the sector know exactly who is responsible for what.
Animal welfare first
Every decision starts with the welfare of the individual animal — and an honest assessment of whether release is realistic.
Transparency
Clear, ethical, plain-language communication about what we do, what we can't do, and where your donation goes.
Fix what's broken
We actively work to repair fragmented communication and coordination across the wildlife sector.
Who we work alongside
Wildlife care in Victoria runs on a network of organisations. We operate within that landscape and connect people to the right service for their situation.
Wildlife Victoria
The state's 24/7 emergency response and dispatch service — the first call for a wildlife emergency.
DEECA
The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action authorises wildlife carers and coordinates emergency and bushfire wildlife response.
RSPCA Victoria
Animal welfare and cruelty response, plus advice for domestic and some wildlife situations.
Local vet clinics
Many vets treat sick and injured wildlife free of charge as the first point of medical care.
Registered shelters & carers
Permit-holding rehabilitators who provide the longer-term care that gets animals back to release.
Volunteer rescuers & transporters
The people who get an animal safely from where it was found to where it can be treated.
We describe these as organisations in the sector we interact with, not as endorsements or formal partnerships unless stated.
Because animals fall through the gaps — and we refuse to look away
The sector is under-resourced and poorly coordinated. Carers burn out, knowledge stays siloed, and animals suffer for it. We do this work to prove a better, more connected model is possible — one rescue, one release, one honest conversation at a time.
Found an animal in trouble? Start here
Calm, practical steps for the public — how to assess urgency, species fact sheets, and what to do in the situations we're called to most.
If you find sick, injured or orphaned wildlife
Your goal is to keep the animal warm, dark, quiet and contained — then get expert advice quickly. Only handle an animal if it is safe for both of you.
Keep yourself safe first
Never approach snakes, flying-foxes, raptors, large birds or adult kangaroos. These need a trained, vaccinated or licensed rescuer — call for help and keep your distance.
Contain gently
If safe, place the animal in a ventilated box lined with a towel. Cover with a light cloth. Handle as little as possible — every extra minute of handling adds stress.
Warm, dark and quiet
Put the box somewhere quiet away from pets, children and noise. No radio, no peeking, no photos. Stress alone can kill a wild animal.
Do not feed or give water
The wrong food or milk can be fatal, and water can be inhaled into the lungs. Diets are species-specific — leave feeding to trained carers and vets.
Call for advice straight away
Phone Wildlife Victoria on (03) 8400 7300, or your local vet. In Australia, vets have a duty of care to native wildlife and will accept it free of charge.
Record exactly where you found it
Most native animals must be released where they were found, and joeys need to be reunited with their family group. Drop a pin or write the address down before you move it.
Do
- Keep it warm, dark, quiet and contained
- Note the exact location found
- Call a professional before acting
- Get it to a vet or carer quickly — every hour counts
- Check the pouch of any dead marsupial
Don't
- Offer food, milk or water
- Handle more than necessary or "check on it"
- Try to raise or keep it yourself — it's illegal without a permit
- Chase an animal you can't safely contain
- Relocate an echidna — a puggle may be in a nearby burrow
Rescue triage — assessing priority
Rescuers assess an animal from a distance first: demeanour, body condition, breathing, mobility and obvious injuries. That assessment sets how fast it needs to reach a vet. Keep any rescue as short as possible — the shorter the rescue, the better the outcome.
Immediate veterinary attention
Transport to a vet without delay. Do not offer food or water.
- Severe trauma or shock; extreme pain or distress
- Breathing difficulty, significant blood loss or bruising
- Head trauma or seizures; unconscious now or earlier
- Open or multiple fractures; limbs missing or dragging
- Full or partial paralysis; eye trauma; burns or electrocution
- Dog or cat attack; suspected poisoning
Prompt veterinary attention
Transport to a vet within 6–12 hours. Provide gentle warmth if needed.
- Moderate dehydration
- Acute entanglement or fishing-tackle injuries
- Hypothermia or heat stress
- Suspected myopathy
- Minor trauma, bruising, swelling or abrasions
- Moderate disease
Vet care as soon as practical
Seek advice from a species coordinator or experienced carer. Monitor closely.
- Mild or chronic disease; parasite overburden
- Malnourished; mild skin conditions
- Healthy orphans
- No obvious pain, discomfort or distress
If an animal deteriorates at any point, move it up a category and act immediately. When in doubt, treat it as more urgent, not less.
Who to call in Victoria
Wildlife Victoria
Statewide emergency response and volunteer dispatch for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. Usually your first call.
(03) 8400 7300Whale & Dolphin Emergency
For entangled, stranded or injured whales and dolphins, call immediately.
1300 136 017DEECA
During declared emergencies and bushfires, wildlife injuries can be reported to DEECA. DEECA also authorises carers and can help you find a registered rehabilitation shelter. Wildlife permits and licensing: 136 186.
Your local vet
All Australian vets have a duty of care to native wildlife. Any clinic will accept an injured native animal free of charge — call ahead, and tell them exactly where it was found so it can be released or reunited later.
In a life-threatening situation involving people, always call 000 first.
Common species & what the public can do
We rescue and rehabilitate all native wildlife. Below is guidance for the species we're called to most across Melbourne's south-east — but the same principles apply to every native animal. When in doubt: contain, keep it warm, dark and quiet, and call. Don't wait.
Brushtail Possum
Common issues: orphaned joeys, car strikes, dog attacks, roof evictions, cat attacks.
You can: always check the pouch of a dead female. Keep joeys warm and dark against your body. Never relocate a healthy possum — it's illegal and usually fatal, as it will be driven out of another possum's territory.
Australian Magpie
Common issues: grounded fledglings, netting entanglement, cat attacks, swooping-season injuries.
You can: a healthy, feathered fledgling hopping on the ground with parents nearby is normal — leave it be, or place it on a low branch. Intervene only if it's injured, bleeding, cold, or a cat has touched it. Any cat contact needs a vet.
Short-beaked Echidna
Common issues: car strikes, dog attacks, being "rescued" when perfectly healthy.
You can: never dig one out or move it far — a dependent puggle may be in a nearby burrow and will starve. If injured, guide it into a deep, ventilated container (they are astonishing escape artists and diggers) and call for advice.
Freshwater Turtle
Common issues: road crossings during spring–summer breeding, dog attacks, cracked shells.
You can: if it's healthy, help it across the road in the direction it was already heading — never turn it back. For any injury, keep it dry, dark and contained (not in water) and call a carer. Shell fractures are very treatable.
Australian Raven
Common issues: fledglings on the ground, netting entanglement, poisoning (including secondary rodenticide poisoning).
You can: keep dogs and cats away, note the location, and call for advice. Ravens are highly intelligent and stress easily, so minimal handling really matters.
Kangaroo & Wallaby
Common issues: vehicle strikes, fence entanglement, dog chase.
You can: do not chase or attempt to catch an adult macropod — pursuit causes capture myopathy, which is usually fatal. Call for a trained rescuer. Always check the pouch of a dead female: a joey can survive for days after its mother dies.
Common Wombat
Common issues: vehicle strikes, mange, burrow collapse, orphaned joeys.
You can: pouch-check any dead wombat — joeys often survive the impact. Wombats are extremely strong; do not attempt to restrain an adult. Mange is treatable but needs a licensed carer, not home remedies.
Koala
Common issues: dog attacks, vehicle strikes, chlamydia, habitat loss, heat stress.
You can: a koala on the ground or moving between trees may be fine. Call if it is sitting low, unresponsive, has dirty or stained rear fur, weepy eyes, or a dog has been near it. Never attempt to handle one — the claws are serious.
Sugar Glider & Feathertail Glider
Common issues: tree felling and hollow loss, cat attacks, barbed wire and netting, entrapment in buildings.
You can: gliders are tiny, nocturnal and stress rapidly. Contain in a soft cloth bag or ventilated box, keep warm and dark, and call immediately. Any cat or dog contact is an emergency — infection sets in fast.
Rainbow Lorikeet
Common issues: Lorikeet Paralysis Syndrome, window and vehicle strikes, cat attacks, netting.
You can: a lorikeet unable to fly or swallow, sitting on the ground and unbothered by you, is likely paralysed and needs a vet promptly. Contain in a warm, dark, ventilated box — never offer food or water.
Grey-headed Flying-fox
Common issues: fruit-tree and barbed-wire entanglement, heat stress events, orphaned pups.
You can: never touch a bat or flying-fox. Only vaccinated, trained rescuers may handle them because of the risk of Australian bat lyssavirus. Note the location, keep people and pets away, and call Wildlife Victoria immediately.
Snakes
Common issues: entrapment in netting, injury from garden tools, being found in homes and sheds.
You can: never approach, handle or attempt to move a snake. Victoria's snakes are venomous and protected. Keep people and pets well back, watch it from a safe distance, and call a licensed snake catcher or Wildlife Victoria.
Blue-tongue Lizard
Common issues: whipper-snipper and mower injuries, dog and cat attacks, snail-bait poisoning.
You can: check long grass before mowing or strimming. Contain injured lizards in a ventilated box with a towel, keep them at a moderate temperature (never hot), and call. Avoid snail baits entirely — they are a common, avoidable killer.
Laughing Kookaburra
Common issues: vehicle strikes (they hunt from roadside perches), rodenticide poisoning, window strikes, hollow loss.
You can: contain in a covered box — the beak is powerful, so use a thick towel. Kookaburras are hollow-nesters, so grounded chicks can't simply be re-nested; call a carer. Avoid rat baits: they poison the birds that eat the rats.
Galahs & Cockatoos
Common issues: vehicle strikes, Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease, lead and pesticide poisoning, netting.
You can: contain in a covered, ventilated box — these birds have powerful beaks and can inflict a serious bite, so use a thick towel. Keep them warm, dark and quiet, and get them to a vet.
Platypus
Common issues: entanglement in litter, yabby traps and fishing line; dog attacks.
You can: do not handle — male platypus have a venomous spur that causes severe pain. Note the exact location and call for a specialist rescuer. Never use enclosed yabby traps in Victorian waterways; they drown platypus and rakali.
Any other native animal: the same rules apply — warm, dark, quiet, contained, no food or water — and call Wildlife Victoria on (03) 8400 7300 for tailored advice before you act.
What to do when…
The situations we're called to most, and what actually helps in each one.
You see a dead marsupial on the road
Joeys are well cushioned in the pouch and often survive the crash that kills their mother — then die slowly of cold or starvation. A joey can live for up to five days in the pouch of a dead mother. Pouch-checking is the single highest-impact thing a member of the public can do.
- Pull well off the road, use hazard lights, wear something visible. Your safety comes first.
- Confirm the animal is dead, then check the pouch — front and inside, feeling gently.
- Furred joey: gently remove it, taking care not to snag limbs. Never force it through the pouch opening.
- Hairless "pinky" still attached to the teat: do not pull. Its mouth is fused to the teat and pulling causes serious injury. Transport the mother's whole body with the joey inside, or call for talk-through advice.
- Warm it against your own body — young joeys can't regulate their temperature. Keep it dark, quiet, and go straight to a vet.
- Mark the carcass (e.g. spray paint or move it off the road if safe) so others don't re-check it.
You find a baby bird on the ground
Most baby birds on the ground do not need rescuing. Healthy chicks have a far better chance of survival left with their parents.
- Fledgling (mostly feathered, looks like a small adult): this is normal. It's learning to fly and its parents are nearby. Place it on a branch in a nearby shrub, keep cats and dogs inside, and watch from a distance.
- Nestling (few or no feathers): it will chill quickly. Re-nest it if you can — a ventilated ice-cream container or bucket with drainage holes, lined with leaves, hung at head height in a shaded tree near where it was found. Parents will not reject it because you touched it.
- Watch from a distance. If the parents haven't returned by dark, it needs to come into care.
- Intervene immediately if: it's injured, cold or lethargic, a cat or dog has had it in its mouth, or you've found the parents dead.
- Hollow-nesting birds (parrots, lorikeets, kookaburras) can't easily be re-nested — call a carer for advice.
An animal is entangled — netting, barbed wire or fishing line
Fruit netting, barbed wire, sports nets and discarded fishing tackle cause horrific injuries, and the animal will keep struggling and cutting deeper.
- Do not cut the animal free and let it go. Entanglement injuries are usually far worse than they look, and go septic.
- Cover the animal's head or eyes with a towel to calm it, if you can do so safely.
- Call for a trained rescuer. Never handle an entangled flying-fox, snake or raptor.
- Cut the net or wire, not the animal — leave the material attached and let the vet remove it.
- Prevention: use wildlife-safe netting with a mesh under 5 mm that you can't poke a finger through, and never leave fishing line behind.
An animal is stuck on a glue trap
Treat this as an emergency. Even an animal that looks unharmed may be dehydrated, exhausted or injured in ways you can't see.
- Best option: contain the animal with the board still attached and transport it straight to a vet or wildlife rescue.
- Only if you truly cannot reach professional help: wearing thick gloves, warm (not hot) cooking oil can be gently massaged into the fur or feathers where they meet the board until the animal works free. It takes time and patience.
- An oiled animal still needs treatment — oil destroys its ability to regulate body temperature.
- Keep it warm, dark, quiet and secure, and get it to a professional.
- Better still: don't use glue traps. They are indiscriminate and cause immense suffering.
Capture myopathy — why we don't chase
Capture myopathy is a stress-and-exertion condition that damages muscle, heart and kidneys. It affects all species, not just marsupials — including birds and raptors — and it kills animals days or even weeks after the rescue. It is caused by humans.
- The damage cannot be undone. Prevention is the only treatment.
- Keep any pursuit under three minutes. After that, muscle damage is already beginning.
- Never chase a macropod. Plan the capture, and never attempt it in ambient temperatures above about 20°C.
- Cover the eyes and reduce struggling; keep noise down; no dogs present.
- Minimise handling and transport time. Watch for muscle tremors, stiffness, a "floppy neck", or coffee-coloured urine — all warning signs.
- This is exactly why an unskilled rescue attempt can be worse than none. Call a trained rescuer.
Heat stress and extreme weather
Heatwaves above 40°C kill flying-foxes en masse and cause dehydration crises in possums, koalas and wombats. Storms and hail strip canopy food overnight.
- Signs: an animal out in the open in daylight that should be nocturnal, panting, lethargic, unresponsive, or on the ground beneath a roost.
- Move it to a cool, shaded, quiet place if it's safe to do so — never a bat or flying-fox.
- Do not force water into its mouth. Water can be inhaled into the lungs and kill it.
- Leave shallow bowls of water in the garden with a stick or stones in them, so small animals can climb out.
- Call for advice — heat stress is a Category 2 priority and needs prompt veterinary care.
A tree is being felled — or you've lost a hollow
Hollow-bearing trees take a century or more to form. When one comes down, the possums, gliders, owls and parrots inside are displaced instantly — and carers are usually called only after the tree is already on the ground.
- If you know tree work is coming, tell a carer before it happens. With 48 hours' notice, boxes can be pre-staged and hollows checked systematically instead of reactively.
- Ask your arborist to inspect for hollows and wildlife before cutting.
- Consider installing a nest box to replace the lost hollow — our possum box mounting system is built for exactly this.
- This is one of the core problems Habi-Food was built to solve.
A cat or dog has caught an animal
Treat every cat or dog contact as a Category 1 emergency, even if you can see no wound at all.
- Cat saliva carries Pasteurella bacteria. Without antibiotics within about 24 hours, the animal will very likely die of septicaemia — even from a single puncture you cannot see.
- Do not wash, treat or "wait and see". Contain it and get it to a vet the same day.
- Small punctures and bruising are easily hidden under fur and feathers. Assume injury.
- Prevention: keep cats indoors or in a run, especially at dawn, dusk and overnight.
Build a wildlife rescue kit for your car
Most people meet injured wildlife by accident, on a road, with nothing useful in the boot. A simple kit turns a helpless moment into a rescue.
Containers
A sturdy ventilated box or pet carrier, plus a couple of pillowcases or cloth bags for birds and small mammals.
Towels & pouches
Old towels, cotton bedding, and a hand-sewn pouch or two. Never use anything with loose threads that claws can snag.
Tools
Round-tipped scissors for pouch work, thick gloves, a torch, and a high-vis vest. Add spray paint to mark checked carcasses.
Numbers
Wildlife Victoria (03) 8400 7300 saved in your phone, and the address of your nearest 24-hour vet.
Remember: in Victoria it is illegal to care for native wildlife without a licence. Your job is to contain it safely and get it to a vet or registered carer — that alone saves lives.
The roles of different shelters & organisations
Knowing who's responsible for each step saves precious time in an emergency.
Wildlife Victoria
Takes public reports 24/7, gives advice, and dispatches trained volunteer rescuers. Usually your first call.
DEECA
Authorises wildlife carers and shelters, sets the rules, and coordinates wildlife response during declared emergencies and bushfires.
RSPCA Victoria
Handles animal cruelty and welfare complaints and offers advice; not the primary wildlife rescue dispatcher.
Vets
First-response medical treatment and triage. Every Australian vet has a duty of care to native wildlife and will accept it free of charge.
Rescuers & transporters
Get to the animal, contain it safely, and move it to a vet or carer. This is rescue — the getting-there job.
Registered shelters & carers
Provide the ongoing, permitted care that builds an animal back up for release. This is rehabilitation — the getting-home job.
Facts about wildlife rehabilitation
There's a job here for every kind of person
You don't need to hold a possum to make a difference. Browse the ways to help — from driving and food prep to admin and social media.
Give time, skills, goods or support
Wildlife care is a chain of small, unglamorous jobs done reliably. Pick the one that fits your life.
Your time
Regular or ad-hoc shifts, from an hour a week upwards.
Your skills
Design, writing, admin, sewing, carpentry, IT — all useful.
Your car
Transport is one of the biggest gaps in the whole sector.
Your support
Donate, share our posts, or fundraise with your community.
Volunteer roles
Rescue & transport
Respond to call-outs and move animals safely to vets and carers. Training and support provided.
Flexible · own vehicle helpful
Food & browse prep
Chop, portion and prepare species-appropriate diets so carers can focus on the animals.
From home · regular
Cage cleaning & husbandry
Keep enclosures clean, safe and enriched — essential, endless, and hugely valued.
On-site · rostered
Greenwaste & browse collection
Cut and deliver clean, pesticide-free native browse for herbivorous species.
Flexible · seasonal
Admin & data
Records, rostering, grants and the paperwork that keeps a compliant operation running.
Remote · flexible
Social media & content
Shoot, edit and post to grow our following, tell rescue stories and drive donations.
Remote · flexible
Practical things we're always after
Native browse & greenwaste
Clean, pesticide-free eucalypt, wattle and grasses. If you're pruning, we may be able to take it off your hands.
Towels, linen & pouches
Old towels and cotton bedding, plus hand-sewn pouches for orphaned marsupials.
Enclosure materials
Timber, mesh, hardware and heat sources for building and repairing enclosures.
Gift cards & consumables
Vet, hardware and produce gift cards stretch a self-funded operation a long way.
Building the fixes the sector is missing
We don't just care for animals — we build the tools, systems and evidence the wildlife sector has always lacked.
Habi-Food
Browse 4 a Better Future
Australia's Intelligent Wildlife Habitat & Browse Platform. Habi-Food connects licensed carers to the government data that already exists but never reaches them: where to find native browse, which roadsides are safe to collect from, and what's coming — planned burns, tree clearing and chemical spraying — before the animals arrive.
Real-time intelligence
Government vegetation, fire and chemical data, finally mapped and connected to carers.
Restoration & protection
Assess release sites and plan browse from authoritative habitat mapping.
Carers & partners
Carers, landholders, councils and agencies working from the same picture.
Today and tomorrow
Advance warning instead of reactive crisis — for the animals and the people.
Wildlife Research Study
A grounded research effort capturing real rehabilitation outcomes — intake causes, care approaches, release success and survival — to build evidence the sector can actually use to improve welfare and coordination.
Decisions need data
Too much of the sector runs on anecdote. Consistent, ethical records change that.
Outcomes, not just intake
Following animals through to release and beyond, rigorously and humanely.
Scoping
Framework in progress. Researchers and carers are welcome to collaborate — get in touch.
Design & Technology
Totally Untamed builds practical design and technology the sector can pick up and use — from field-ready signage and printable guides to full digital platforms. Fixing broken communication is a design problem as much as a wildlife one.
Digital platforms
Habi-Food and connected tools that turn scattered government data into something a carer can act on in seconds.
Field & emergency signage
Tree signage and QR-linked emergency guides so arborists, CFA and councils know a box may hold an animal — and exactly what to do.
Documentation & branding
Editable guides, risk assessments and a consistent, honest brand the sector can trust and reuse.
Possum Box Mounting System
A safe, standardised system for building, installing and releasing from possum nest boxes — with documented risk assessments and a Safe Work Method Statement covering installation, release and emergency removal. In field use for around three years with no observed impact on tree health.
Release inside the box
Possums are released while already inside the box, which is lifted onto a pre-installed mounting board — no transfer between shelters at height.
Redundant safety
Coach-bolted boards with a growth gap for the tree, plus a V-shaped stainless safety cable as a backup should a mount ever fail.
Emergency-ready
Tree signage and a QR quick-guide let arborists, CFA and SES safely remove an occupied box in a bushfire, storm or tree-works emergency.
Risk-assessed & compliant
Backed by a Victorian OHS-aligned risk matrix and SWMS, referencing WorkSafe Victoria and DEECA rehabilitation guidance.
We're self-funded. Your help keeps the rescues going.
Totally Untamed runs on community donations and what we can earn — not on industry funding. Every dollar goes straight to the animals.
Support the work
Rescue and rehabilitation costs around $300 a week — none of it government funded. On average we rescue 5–10 animals a week across Melbourne's south-east, with around 10 animals in care at any given time.
Fast and free from any Australian bank app.
PayID: 0423 085 202
Account name: Wildlife Rehabilitation Fund (NAB)
BSB: 083638 · Account: 402401624
Secure card and PayPal payments.
Donate with PayPalScan to give
Donations made via this QR code are tax deductible.
Supermarket fuel vouchers are hugely appreciated — a big share of every rescue is the drive.
What your donation funds
Formula & food
Species-correct milk formula and food for orphaned joeys and animals in care.
Vet & medical
Medications, wound care and the treatment that gets animals back on their feet.
Heat & bedding
Heat pads, pouches and bedding to keep vulnerable animals warm and calm.
Enclosures & fuel
Building and repairing enclosures — and the fuel to reach every rescue.
Fruit bags are available — and every bit helps
Our seasonal fruit bags directly fund wildlife work, with the amount left open for you to give what you can. Supermarket fuel vouchers stretch a self-funded operation a long way. Ask us how to grab a bag or drop off a voucher.
Want to fund the platform instead?
Donations marked "Habi-Food" go directly to building and running the Habi-Food wildlife habitat and browse platform.
The Totally Untamed store is coming soon
A place to grab merch, fruit bags and wildlife-friendly goods — every purchase funding rescue and rehabilitation.
Merch & goods that give back
- Folk-art tees, totes and prints featuring our wildlife artwork
- Seasonal fruit bags and gift options
- Possum boxes and wildlife-friendly kit
Support us directly
- Donate to fund rescues today
- Register your interest to volunteer
- Follow along on social media for launch news
This page is reserved and ready to connect to an online store platform (Shopify, Square, or a Wix store) whenever you're ready to launch.
Operating lawfully, ethically and in the open
Who authorises wildlife care in Victoria, the rules we work under, and the organisations we operate alongside.
Wildlife rehabilitation permits
In Victoria, wildlife shelters and foster carers are authorised under the Wildlife Act 1975 (Vic) by DEECA Wildlife Licensing. Only current, active permit holders may rehabilitate native wildlife — and each permit specifies the species a carer is authorised for.
Authorised carer
Totally Untamed operates as a permitted wildlife rescue and rehabilitation service under Victorian wildlife licensing. Rescue and rehabilitation are treated as distinct, permitted activities.
Species scope
We rescue and rehabilitate all native wildlife our permit and capacity allow — mammals, birds and reptiles alike. Where a species needs specialist facilities we don't hold, we get the animal straight to a carer who does.
The rules we work under
Wildlife Act 1975 (Vic)
The principal Act protecting Victorian wildlife and authorising rehabilitation permits, administered by DEECA.
Victorian Wildlife Rehabilitation Guidelines
DEECA's standards for the housing, care and release of rehabilitated wildlife.
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 (Vic)
The overarching animal welfare law underpinning humane treatment of animals in care.
Occupational Health & Safety Act 2004 (Vic)
WorkSafe Victoria requirements that shape our field procedures, especially work at height.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Always refer to the current legislation and your own permit conditions.
Documented, risk-assessed practice
Our field work is backed by written procedures aligned with Victorian safety and wildlife guidance — reviewed before live operations.
Risk Assessment Matrix
A Victorian OHS-aligned risk register for the possum nest box system — installation, release, monitoring and emergency removal.
Safe Work Method Statement
Step-by-step safe methods for box installation, release and emergency removal, including work-at-height controls.
Emergency signage & guides
Tree signage and quick guides for arborists, CFA and SES so occupied boxes are handled safely in an emergency.
Documents are editable working templates and must be reviewed and adapted to the site, team, animal, weather and current authorisation before field use.
Who we work alongside
Wildlife care in Victoria runs on a network of organisations. We operate within that landscape and connect people to the right service.
Wildlife Victoria
Statewide 24/7 emergency response and volunteer dispatch — usually the first call in a wildlife emergency.
DEECA
Authorises wildlife carers and shelters, sets the guidelines, and coordinates wildlife response in declared emergencies and bushfires.
RSPCA Victoria
Animal welfare and cruelty response and advice — not the primary wildlife rescue dispatcher.
Local vet clinics
First-response medical care and triage; many treat wildlife at no cost to the finder.
Registered shelters & carers
Permit-holding rehabilitators providing the longer-term care that gets animals to release.
DEECA Wildlife Licensing
Provided admin access controls for Habi-Food, solely to verify current active permit holders.
Listed as organisations in the sector we interact with — not endorsements or formal partnerships unless stated.
Get in touch
Whether you've found an animal, want to help, or want to work with us — we'd love to hear from you.
For emergencies, call Wildlife Victoria first — 24/7
They give advice and dispatch trained rescuers straight away. This contact form is not monitored around the clock.
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Totally Untamed Wildlife
Rescue & Rehabilitation
Hampton Park, Victoria, Australia
Web: totallyuntamedwildlife.com.au
Habi-Food: habi-food.com.au
Habi-Food email: Habi-Food@outlook.com.au
Emergencies: Wildlife Victoria (03) 8400 7300
Ways to reach us
Use the form for volunteering, donations, media, Habi-Food access questions and general enquiries. We'll get back to you as soon as we can between rescues.