Evan is creating a humane world for our animals
Evan Quartermain, 38, wanted to be a nature photographer but instead came out from behind the camera and immersed himself in the action of caring for our wildlife. He’s currently the director of programs and disaster response at Humane World for Animals, which was established in Avalon 30 years ago.
Evan, who lives in Newport, moved from Brisbane for his ‘dream job’ 16 years ago, fresh from university, and has never looked back.
“I didn’t know much about Sydney or the Northern Beaches,” recalls Evan. “I was very pleasantly surprised, and I wouldn’t move anywhere else now.”
Evan manages the Wildlife Land Trust which he is very passionate about.
“It’s about recognising that most of Australia is privately owned and there’s a real potential for people to look after their patch for wildlife. Many places are just a few acres but we’re approaching a thousand members (nationwide) representing about 90,000 hectares – about six times the size of the Royal National Park. It’s a real testament to a lot of people looking after their bit and making a huge difference.”
Evan comes across many wildlife conflict issues, such as the threatened grey-headed flying foxes which he says have a few local roosts on the Beaches, one being in Avalon. He says there was a push to evict flying foxes and move them on elsewhere.
“They’re not exactly the best neighbours,” says Evan. “They do have an impact on people; they can be noisy and smelly. But they’re only there because we have pushed them into these tiny little patches of suitable habitats by expanding urbanisation.”
Evan says we can move flying foxes on if we harass them enough, but they need to roost somewhere. They will settle in a new place, but it just ‘passes the buck’ as the same thing happens again.
Dogs need help as well as native animals
The threats to wildlife are immense. Climate change, urbanisation, disasters and fires all have an impact on habitats. Evan says we need to consider how we share the world with animals.
During the Black Summer fires of 2019/2020, Evan and his colleague, executive director Erica Martin, travelled to Kangaroo Island with the International Disaster Response team.
“We were faced with some really confronting situations,” recalls Evan. “There were koalas everywhere and we ferried them to the triage centre that had been set up – either to have them put out of their suffering or to treat them. We used to have a threatened koala population in Pittwater, but we haven’t (had any koalas) for some time sadly.”
Evan’s work also takes him overseas; he travelled to Türkiye with colleague Georgie following the devasting earthquakes in 2023, where over 70,000 people were killed.
“We camped in an earthquake-ravaged city and spent our days and nights trying to find people’s cats and dogs. I feel very privileged to have been afforded that opportunity to make a difference.”
It’s not just disasters that Evan responds to. “Most of the calls I get locally for are possums that have been either bitten by a cat, struck by a car, or trapped in someone’s house.” He says everyone should do basic wildlife training with Sydney Wildlife Rescue to enable people to help in times of need.
“You can get involved as a volunteer,” he says. “You can start that journey straight away and be ready to help in the good times and bad.”
