The Wildlife Hospital in Dunedin has one of the more unusual bubbles in the country this lockdown, mixing vets and nurses with some feathered inpatients.
Their patients include a gull undergoing rehabilitation, a cheeky kea named Bruce with a respiratory infection, and a silvereye who is “a bit wobbly on his feet”, vet nurse Emily Brewer told Breakfast.
The team was keeping its bubble as small as possible in case someone got sick, she said.
Meanwhile, vet Dr Lizzie Thomas is keeping busy cleaning out a cage that has become a temporary home for a hoiho with a traumatic eye injury.
She said 2021 has been a “quieter season”, with the wildlife hospital last year having to take care of 12 penguins during the first Alert Level 4 lockdown.
All animals in the hospital, apart from Bruce, weren’t in captivity and were in the process of going back out into the wild.
Thomas said the animals also had the luxury of a fridge full of fridge.
The Wildlife Hospital is still admitting patients through contactless drop offs. Brewer encouraged people to call the Department of Conservation first if they did find an injured animal.
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