MEGALONG VALLEY, Australia, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Armed with medication to treat mange, conservationist Melina Budden quietly trails a wombat called Hope who is infected with the skin disease through the forest in southeastern Australia.
Budden, who founded the Blue Mountains Wombat Conservation Group in 2020, leads a team of several dozen volunteers who are trying to protect the wombat, a marsupial unique to Australia.
Mange, which is caused by parasitic mites and is a major cause of wombat mortality, threatens the survival of the species as climate change poses other dangers to the emblematic animal, Budden said.
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