As a wildlife carer it is distressing to see Sydney’s old native trees make way for development. The city’s light rail project is particularly upsetting, as it will remove around 800 trees.

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These include century-old Moreton Bay fig trees in the eastern suburb of Randwick.

 

Even though we are reassured that these trees will be relocated and there will be new plantings, I feel that the 19th-century trees are invaluable. They provide natural hollows where our nesting wildlife raise their young.

 

A recent rescue of some kookaburras emphasised the importance of these old trees.

 

Fellow wildlife bird carer Josh Cook was called to a local vet to collect an egg and two day-old kookaburras rescued from the Randwick site.

 

The egg hatched on the way home!

 

And over the next month, Josh hand raised the hatchling and its two siblings into healthy, fully feathered kookaburras whose futures now look very bright.

 

Josh named the named the two older kookaburras Alison and Darley after the road intersection where they were rescued.  And the real battler who was rescued as an egg, he named Anzac.

 

Josh successfully raised them and was able to reunite them with their family group.