As the United States reeled from the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York 20 years ago this week, an American veterinarian found himself stranded in Tasmania unable to return home.
An expert on the rehabilitation of injured birds, James Harris had been attending an international veterinary conference in Hobart and during the shutdown of the US air routes he and his wife decided to explore Tasmania.
On these excursions they discovered a land rich in wildlife and beauty, so much so that the Harrises decided to make Tasmania their home. It was a decision that would not only give them a new direction in life but see Dr Harris eventually honoured by the Australian government for his service to wildlife.
Five months after 9/11, Dr Harris was open for business at a veterinary practice he had brought in Sandy Bay. Along with treating the pampered pets of Sandy Bay and adjoining suburbs, Dr Harris also opened his doors to injured wildlife. Word soon spread that he would accept injured birds and animals free of charge, and the wildlife carers in the south of the state increasingly started to call on him for assistance or deliver birds and animals to his door.
Dr Harris’ speciality is orthopaedic surgery for birds of prey and he became the leading expert in the treatment of injured raptors, including wedge-tailed eagles. Injuries to both wedge-tailed and sea-eagles included those resulting from collisions with power lines and wounds sustained from illegal shooting.
With 9/11 in mind, Dr Harris was hoping to mark his own 20th anniversary of establishing his practice in Tasmania but ill health has forced him to retire after 63 years as a veterinarian. He is 87 and he finally found the rigours of a vet’s life too demanding. However, he is still actively involved in the online deliberations of the Association of Avian Veterinarians, Australasian committee.
Dr Harris decided on a veterinary career after being taken to the London Zoo as a child, before the family moved to the US at the start of World War Two.
As he looks back on his career in Tasmania, he says he is pleased to have made his contribution to conservation, being awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to veterinary science and animal welfare in 2013.
But he says he is disappointed that wildlife is not in a better state, pointing out there were about 1000 orange-bellied parrots in Tasmania when he arrived and now the number has dropped to an estimated 77 wild birds. The swift parrot has also been declared critically endangered, with an estimated population down to a mere 300 birds from a thousand breeding pairs in the early part of the 21st century. Dr Harris’ beloved “wedgies” are also in sharp decline.
“The bird situation is not going well,” he says sadly.