A kangaroo that was rescued from a mine shaft in the bush at Drummond North is recovering.
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The kangaroo was found by two boys who were walking near their home. Their father called authorities and Five Freedoms Animal Rescue's Manfred Zabinskas helped the animal.
Mr Zabinskas said it took about 90 minutes to rescue the kangaroo from the mine shaft.
"Two lads were exploring bush while walking and came across this kangaroo down a mineshaft," he said.
"We got him out okay but we couldn't tell if he was injured. He was subdued and looking at us and clearly exhausted.
"He wasn't little, I've had bigger but I was glad to have plenty of helpers. He weighed about 35 kilograms, which doesn't sound like a lot until you have to haul it up."
The kangaroo is recovering at Mr Zabinskas' wildlife shelter in Trentham.
"We put him in kangaroo enclosure yesterday which has a shed for shelter, bedding and yard," Mr Zabinskas said. "He seemed okay for most part and got up quickly and was eating but we checked on him at 11pm (Saturday night) and he was miserable. He was in real trouble.
"We took him up to house and had him in the hospital room under the verandah. He was bedded him down with hot water bottles and is looking a bit better this morning. He is up and eating and let me approach him to pat.
"We weren't 100 per cent sure he was going to make it, so we're glad to see him up and eating now."
Mr Zabinskas has been rescuing animals for about 25 years and has been running his own business for 14 years.
It makes him very experienced in rescuing animals from mine shafts.
"The first thing is to check the animal to see if it is injured, then we have good look at the mine," Mr Zabinskas said. "Then we estimate size of the animal and tranquilise him. While the sedative kicks in we work out a plan of attack to attach our ropes and the plan the best approach for our descent.
"This is our sixth mine shaft rescue this year. That shows there is increased occurrence of this happening but I don't know if more animals are falling down them or people are finding them more."
Mr Zabinskas hoped the government would considered taking action to ensure nothing could fall down old mine shafts.
"There so many of these dangerous mine shafts for our wildlife, you imagine suffering they go through if they fall down one," he said "I would call on the government to look at options to make these mine shafts safer. I think at least wildlife-proof fencing around the shafts would be a simple, cheap and effective way to safeguard them."