Wildlife Heroes – Caring for Carers Podcast

The Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife has teamed up with podcast producer Gretchen Miller, wildlife carers and mental health experts to share stories and perspectives about climate worry, personal wellbeing, community conflict, catastrophic events, and supporting others.  Australia’s 15,000+ wildlife volunteers work hard, under intense conditions. The Wildlife Heroes: Caring for Carers Podcast aims to start a mental health conversation to support our volunteers to look after themselves and each other.

Hearing from one another about how we express the journey of being a wildlife carer is fundamental form of sharing and connection which may help others make sense, or reflect on their own journeys. Suzy Nethercott-Watson, the Founder of Two Green Threads is grateful to be one of the guest speakers of the series (see Episode 3 below).

Episode 1: Catastrophic Events – when the pressure is on and what to do afterwards

Catastrophic events are all too frequent – flood and fire all take their toll on wildlife and wildlife carers are always there to pick up the pieces. So how do we best recover and look after ourselves, and our animals, after we’ve been on the front line of a traumatic wildlife rescue emergency?

We hear from:

  • Jessi Jean Drew Smythe, WIRES volunteer and bat carer, studying environmental biology at the University of Technology in Sydney.
  • Lyne Page, TAFE senior counsellor, volunteer field psychologist with Red Cross, and a member of the disaster response network with the Australian Psychological Society.

Episode 2: Climate Change – the grief we feel

Each single animal we rescue takes hours, days, weeks and months of care. But the big picture remains grim. How can we take care of ourselves as climate warriors and climate worriers?

We hear from:

  • Dr Ros Irwin, a veteran carer and President of Friends of the Koala from Lismore
    in NSW.
  • Sally Gillespie, a former psychotherapist who presents talks and workshops on climate psychology and eco-psychology.

Episode 3: Personal Care – looking after yourself in order to better look after others

Wildlife care is 24/7 as we all know. So how do we make time for ourselves, and what can we do to ensure we remain well, and are able to keep caring?

We hear from:

  • Suzy Nethercott-Watson, a carer for 20 years, and the director of Two Green Threads – a website built specially to support wildlife volunteers in the work they do.
  • Sharon Draper, animal lover and Sydney based psychologist with an interest in trauma and compassion fatigue.

Episode 4: Community Conflict – when all the good will goes bad

The pressures are great, so what happens when we stop getting along? We consider conflict – from individual, to in the group, to with the larger community and how wildlife volunteers can build and maintain positive and supportive relationships.

We hear from:

  • Jess Birrell, wildlife volunteer, reptile trainer and expert.
  • Lyne Page, TAFE senior counsellor, volunteer field psychologist with Red Cross, and a member of the disaster response network with the Australian Psychological Society.

Episode 5: Supporting Others – looking after our carer friends

We’re all in this together – so how best to support and encourage our fellow wildlife volunteers when they struggle?

We hear from:

  • Tilly Gray, wildlife carer who loves all animals (humans included!) and is currently working on “The Wildlife Carer Rehabilitation Manual – How to Care for Human Beings”
  • Sally Gillespie, a former psychotherapist who presents talks and workshops on climate psychology and ecopsychology and has written a book, Climate Crisis and Consciousness: Re-imagining Our World and Ourselves.

If listening to these podcasts brings up strong feelings, there is free mental health support for everyone. You don’t have to talk, but don’t let the reason for not getting support be because you don’t know where to access help – just follow this link to our Mental Health Help and Support page.

Wildlife Heroes Website – https://wildlifeheroes.org.au

“Almost everything will work if you unplug it for a few minutes. Even you.”


– Anne Lamott

If Two Green Threads resonates with you, please share it amongst your network: