By Jessica Micallef
Brad Pit the kangaroo, who found himself at the bottom of a mineshaft, has had a lucky escape thanks to animal rescuer Manfred Zabinskas.
The owner of animal shelter Five Freedoms Animal Rescue was notified by locals who had come across the kangaroo in a 7-metre deep shaft in Drummond bushland on June 13.
When he arrived at the mineshaft, Mr Zabinskas said the kangaroo was in a “reasonably good” state for his situation.
“He was standing and looking up at us,” he said.
“In fact he was a little too calm. A wild animal that size should have been frantic with our presence.
“He just stood there and watched us and even when we assessed the situation and tried to work out the best approach for his rescue, he didn’t move.”
Because the kangaroo was not phased about his whereabouts, Mr Zabinskas couldn’t tell if the kangaroo had sustained any injuries upon the fall.
“If he had tried to walk or hop I might have seen whether he had hurt himself when he landed down the bottom of the shaft,” he said.
About six people were involved in the rescue operation, including Edgar Mission’s founder Pam Ahern.
In order to rescue the kangaroo, Mr Zabinskas tranquilised the kangaroo before he carefully made his way down the shaft.
It took him one and a half hours to bring the kangaroo to safety before Brad Pit was transported to Five Freedoms Animal Rescue for recovery
“He’s looking beautiful and he’s hopping quite well,” he said.
“The only issue … is that his feet are very swollen.
“It’s probably from the trauma from the landing from falling so far.”
Mr Zabinskas said the kangaroo was very lucky to have been found and safely rescued so quickly.
“If no one found him, that kangaroo surely would have just died a slow, horrible death from starvation and dehydration,” he said.
“He would have taken weeks to die down there.
“People need to be mindful about the shafts – keep an eye out for them and look into them [and] make sure there are no animals down there.”
