By Jamie Salter
Chordata & Ko Wildlife Shelter founder Kody Davidson has helped more than 180 animals this year.
Established in 2019, the Cranbourne shelter includes the rescue, rehabilitation and release of Australia’s native wildlife including kangaroos, wallabies, birds, possums and reptiles.
Since he was a child, Kody has had a keen interest in animals, which sparked a curiosity into the uniqueness and adaptability of Australian wildlife.
Kody has been working with wildlife since 2013 while working and completing a Bachelors of Biological Science at Deakin University, majoring in cell and molecular biology.
He said his real passion kicked in when completing his studies and learning about the science behind Australian wildlife.
“I tailored my learning to be able to work with animals,” he said.
“I became a carer for a local wildlife shelter where I worked for a couple years and I completed my rescue training with Wildlife Victoria while I was with them.”
After completing his degree, Kody decided to try something a little different and was a flight attendant for five years, starting at Jet Star before joining Qantas long-haul.
“When I started long-haul it was really difficult, so that helped me realise my passion and I went back to volunteering and looking for jobs working with animals,” he said.
He then landed a job as an animal attendant at RSPCA.
“The lack of education that people have towards animals that RSPCA helps illuminate was quite interesting and it was good to see how a charity runs,” he said.
Kody is now working at Healesville Sanctuary where he often takes rescue animals to get the opinion of a veterinarian on whether an animal will survive.
He said it took time to become accustomed to the gruesome aspects of the job.
“Because I’ve been doing it for a while now, you get a detached mentality and do have to make brutal decisions,” he said.
“Australian wildlife will throw and abandon their babies if they’re under threat and they can’t afford to waste their energy on a baby that won’t survive, so I try to adopt that mindset.
“The hardest one has been a little Joey who was hit by a car.”
Animal attacks from domestic cats and dogs were another major cause of injured wildlife and Kody reminded owners to keep their pets inside at night.
He maintains a quality over quantity mindset, focusing his attention on rehabilitating the animals to the best of his ability.
“I do a lot of my own research, there are no scientifically proven methods of how to raise these animals,” he said.
“I want to get them back into the wild as soon as possible.”
Kody receives support from wildlife organisations and local community groups, scoring government grants here and there to help fund the materials he needs to rehabilitate the rescued wildlife.
Although the support slowed during Covid-19 lockdowns, Kody was grateful he could continue to work and said he could see the shelter growing in years to come.
