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Bare nose to bare-nosed wombat
Rescue of a baby wombat, Australia, 2022
Category - Changemakers
Veterinary student Aldana comforts a 4-month-old orphaned bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus) named Maude by placing her nose against it. Like most young mammals, baby wombats take comfort in warm, secure, loving connection – just as they would do with their mother in the wild – but wombats in particular, with their highly sensitive noses, seem to especially like nose-to-nose contact. Maude became an orphan after her mum was hit and killed by a car, but luckily somebody stopped to check the pouch and take it to the Joey and Bat Sanctuary (Beveridge, Victoria, Australia), near Melbourne. Sadly however, when Maude was old enough, she was not able to be released back where she was found, as a housing estate was being built there. In Australia, it is estimated 10 million native animals are killed each year by vehicle impacts, but this is often preventable by drivers simply slowing down, especially during times when wildlife is more active and least visible (i.e. dusk to dawn).
90 mm f/2.8Lens - 1/160 sec at f/3.5 ISO 800