Woolworths & WIRES are working together to support Australian wildlife.
Beginning in early 2020 as a collaborative response to a series of unprecedented emergency events, the relationship has grown into a long-term partnership to support increased national capacity to rescue, rehabilitate and release native animals and assist with the long-term preservation of native species.
National Wildlife Programs
In partnership with Woolworths, WIRES is using the funds raised from the relationship to help wildlife carers across Australia provide better outcomes for the native animals in their care with 3 core initiatives:
Food For Wildlife
WIRES and Woolworths work with licensed volunteers and rescue groups across Australia to provide supplemental food to recovering wildlife. Diverting produce that would normally go unused & contribute to landfill, this program helps reduce food waste as well as helping the environment & our native animals. Learn more here
Wildlife Food Support
WIRES and Woolworths have developed a national food program to help support authorised wildlife carers and rescue organisations nationally, with access to specialised wildlife food for native animals in care. WIRES are partnering with key wildlife food suppliers to ensure the best quality food can be delivered direct to volunteers around the country. Learn more here
Emergency Support
WIRES and Woolworths have allocated funding to be rapidly available to assist wildlife carers and groups meet emergency wildlife needs when they need it most. Woolworths support has helped WIRES to respond quickly to the 2022 Floods and we will be setting up a new program specifically to assist with future emergency support.
Woolworths Instore Support
Woolworths have worked closely with WIRES on a range of unique programs to support native animals.
Customer Donations
Woolworths customers can easily donate to WIRES when doing their weekly online shopping by adding one of the pre nominated $2, $5 or $20 donation amounts to their carts.
Reindeer Carrots
For the last two years, the Woolworths Team and customers raised money to support wildlife at Christmas, with 10 cents from the sale of each pack of Australian grown Reindeer Carrots donated to WIRES to help support the rescue, care and feeding of native Australian wildlife.
Spring Support
In 2021 Woolworths launched a new range of native Australian Spring Garden Ornaments to help create a welcoming garden environment, designed to encourage people to create more natural spaces that wildlife can share. For each garden ornament and Woolworths Koala or Wombat Scourer sold, Woolworths donated 50 cents to WIRES to support the rescue, care and feeding of sick, injured and orphaned native wildlife.
2019/2020 Emergency Response
During 2019-2020 Australia was suffering one of the worst droughts on record when the country was ravaged by months of fires. The horrific fires wiped out millions of hectares of critical habitat and it has been estimated that nearly 3 billion animals were killed or displaced and hundreds of species have been pushed closer to extinction.
Despite rescuing and caring for sick, injured and orphaned native animals for over 35 years and WIRES had never witnessed such devastation. The immediate work involved in rescuing and rehabilitating individual animals was significant, and the long-term needs to support the recovery of wildlife habitat and native species recovery are enormous.
WIRES spent over $938,000 on food for wildlife nationally FY20 and were extremely grateful for Woolworths support at this difficult time.
Caring for Wildlife
If you find sick, injured or orphaned native animals please read WIRES Emergency Advice and report the rescue online or call WIRES Rescue Office 24/7 for advice and assistance on 1300 094 737.
Please do not give native animals food or water unless it is under the direction of a wildlife vet or
wildlife rescue organisation.
Feeding sick or injured animals pre-treatment, or feeding animals incorrect food can be detrimental for
their health.
It is always best to let healthy native animals eat their native diet and when they need to be in care, trained rehabilitators feed them specific quantities of approved foods that support their recovery and release back into the wild. To help wildlife, particularly during summer, the best way to assist is to leave out fresh water.
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