Animal Happiness Vet

31/08/2026

Stick is life

26/08/2026

What an amazing team ❤️
Many of you will know I had to say goodbye to the most amazing dog of my life - dear Katie - after nearly 18 years.
Today I got into work to discover this incredible and touching gift, handmade from Stacey, one of our wonderful and loving nurses.

I am very lucky to be surrounded by such incredible people. 🥲

23/08/2026

Heartbreaking stuff.
People fishing must be much more vigilant with lost lines and equipment.

16/07/2026

Good news makes us happy...
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Locv5q8RA/

Good news for one of WA's fauna emblem and a true national treasure...

The Numbat has just moved from Endangered to Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List - the first improvement in the species' status since it was classified as Endangered in the late 1970s, when numbers had crashed to around 300 individuals. Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

Thanks to over 40 years of sustained work by DBCA, Perth Zoo, AWC and community volunteers - including fox and cat control, predator-free fenced sanctuaries and reintroduction programs - wild numbat numbers have grown to an estimated 2,000-3,000 individuals. AWC alone has helped establish four secure populations across the species' former range.

It's a genuine good-news story and proof that dedicated, long-term conservation work actually pays off.

But it's not job done - the Numbat remains listed as Endangered here in Australia under the EPBC Act, and researchers are clear that without continued predator control, the gains could reverse quickly. At around 3,000 animals, overall numbers are still very low for an entire species.

Still - this one's worth celebrating. 🧡

Source: Australian Wildlife Conservancy
Photo: Gary Beilby

15/07/2026

UPDATE: Phones have been restored.

OUR PHONES ARE DOWN!

We're sorry for the inconvenience, we're working to fix things as quickly as possible!

Please contact the clinic on our mobile 0434 743 744.

10/07/2026

This...

09/07/2026

Two lessons in life...
1. You're never too old to enjoy the morning sunshine.
2. Never trust a shopping bag. Sit on them at every opportunity.

04/07/2026

21/06/2026

Bird flu has landed in WA. Here's what you actually need to know.

This week 2 wild birds in the south coast, near Esperance, tested positive to H5N1 avian influenza, the first detection of this kind on Australian mainland soil. As a vet who deals with birds and native wildlife on the front line, here's the quick version, minus the headline panic.

The bad news is real. This is the same broad virus family that has torn through seabird colonies, seal populations and poultry flocks across Europe, the Americas and Asia since 2021, and it jumps into mammals more readily than any flu strain we've seen before. Australia was the last continent it hadn't reached. That run has ended.

Places like Heard Island matter here. Remote sub-Antarctic islands host enormous seabird and seal breeding colonies packed onto a few square kilometres of rock, exactly the setting a virus like this thrives in. Dense colonies mean it can move from animal to animal with almost no effort, and one infected bird can seed an outbreak that wipes out a season's breeding in weeks. They're natural disease amplifiers, the same reason cruise ships are nightmares for human respiratory viruses, just with penguins and seals instead of people.

You don't need a sub-Antarctic colony to see a small-scale version of this. Any cafe where gulls have learned to swoop tables is a spot where birds, food and people are mixing closely and often, and that's a moderate zoonotic risk on its own merits, bird flu aside. Venue managers in these settings should be proactive about deterrents and food handling, not just for the diners' sake but for the birds too.

The reassuring part: human risk here remains very low. For this virus to become a human pandemic threat it needs a stack of unlikely mutations, not one, to bind human airway cells, replicate at human body temperature, and then spread person to person through the air. Despite hundreds of human cases worldwide over two decades, that combination hasn't happened. Nearly every case has come from close, sustained contact with sick or dead birds.

Australia isn't starting from zero either. We've had decades of investment in exotic disease preparedness, from the AUSVETPLAN framework to wild bird surveillance programs that have been watching for exactly this, given our place on major migratory flyways. This is a system doing what it was built for.

On a personal note, this is the territory I work in daily as a mobile vet treating birds, reptiles and native wildlife. I'm across the biosecurity protocols and in contact with DPIRD. If you find a sick or dead wild bird, especially a raptor, waterbird or seabird, don't handle it. Note the location, photograph it if safe, and call the Emergency Animal Disease hotline on 1800 675 888.

Good science, fast reporting, and a bit of perspective. That's how we get through this one too.

20/06/2026

Important news for wildlife carers and the general public...

H5N1 Avian Bird Flu

At this stage, Kanyana Wildlife remains open and will continue to accept all wildlife admissions. However, the situation is evolving rapidly and this may change at short notice. Please read the full post below.

Today, the six largest wildlife rehabilitation organisations in Western Australia met following confirmation of H5N1 avian influenza in WA.

We have been consulting with government agencies for the past 12 months to prepare for this event. Based on health advice from State and Federal Government authorities, all six facilities have agreed that once H5N1 is detected in local wild bird populations (rather than an isolated case in a migratory bird), we will cease accepting bird admissions to protect our frontline staff and volunteers.

H5N1 is a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza that can infect humans, particularly in environments where large numbers of birds are handled and treated. Wildlife hospitals and rehabilitation centres are not currently funded or equipped to safely manage an outbreak of this scale.

This decision will affect bird admissions at WA Wildlife, Kanyana Wildlife, Perth Wildlife Hospital, Darling Range Wildlife Shelter WA, Mandurah Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre. Without additional funding from state government, these organisations will also be unable to safely rescue and transport sick or injured birds across the Perth metropolitan area.

We remain in active discussions with DPIRD and DBCA and are hopeful that emergency State Government funding for PPE, additional staffing and temporary biosecure facilities will allow some wildlife facilities to safely continue, or resume, bird admissions if community cases are detected.

At this stage, all facilities remain open and continue to accept bird admissions, as well as reptile and mammal admissions. However, the situation is evolving rapidly and this may change at short notice.

We encourage the public to follow official advice from DBCA/DPIRD regarding sick or injured wildlife. Information can be found at: https://www.dbca.wa.gov.au/management/threat-management/h5-avian-influenza-bird-flu.

We are deeply saddened by this situation. However, the safety of our staff and volunteers must come first. We also have a responsibility to protect the hundreds of animals currently undergoing rehabilitation, along with the resident birds housed at our facilities.

We remain committed to working with government agencies and are hopeful that the funding support requested will enable parts of the wildlife rehabilitation sector to continue operating safely if H5N1 becomes established in Western Australia's wild bird populations.

If you would like to support our work, please donate here - https://kanyanawildlife.org.au/