Nikki, Kangaroo Carer, Castlemaine, Dja Dja Wurrung Country
Nikki has lived in Elphinstone for seven years, on a sixty acre property that she and her partner Scott have converted into a kangaroo sanctuary. She didn’t intend for it to be a kangaroo sanctuary when she moved here - she had planned on having a bed and breakfast and fostering farm animals, as she’d done at her last house in Katandra. But, when she and Scott drove up the driveway to their new home, they noticed a few roos by the dam, and decided they may as well learn about them, so they can take care of them if need be.
Seven years later and the entire property is set up to care for roos - there’s a fully kitted out roo surgery, there are sheds and yards for them to recover in, feeding and water stations, and the entire lounge room is dedicated to orphaned joeys. Just in the couple of hours I spent at Nikki’s, I met at least a dozen resident roos.
I asked her how she went from educating herself on roos just in case, to dedicating her entire life to them (Nikki is a full-time carer, getting only an hour or so sleep each night, and Scott works a full time job to keep the roo sanctuary running). She says it happened incrementally - at her last house she’d been a foster carer for agricultural animals, and she loved it. When she moved to Elphinstone, wildlife instinctively knew to come there for help. A local foster carer taught them how to look after roos; she had two baby joeys she’d bring round and one day she told Nikki that they were hers to keep and raise.
Nikki says she doesn’t mind the lack of sleep or time that she has now, she couldn’t do anything else. She says she gets attached to every roo she cares for - they all have their own personalities, just like humans, and they give nothing but love.
