From snake relocation, livestock management and looking out for baby joeys, the team at TECKnology work with all sorts of animals each day in the Bundaberg Region.
TECKnology’s Leslie Lowe said the Indigenous corporation was currently contracted with Bundaberg Regional Council’s animal control team to take care of livestock but also provided services for smaller, native animal problems.
“We look after the control of larger animals including cattle, sheep, goats and more,” Mr Lowe said.
“Also, we get some weird and wonderful jobs with animals such as camels and llamas, snakes and lizards.
“Anything that creeps, crawls or walks through the night, we will take care of.”
Mr Lowe said TECHnology started operations three years ago with just one employee but had since grown to seven full-time staff thanks to scoring the major Council contract.
He said a perk of the job was the many quirky animal encounters he had experienced.
“I remember once we were called to the Council Chambers because a micro bat had climbed through the roof and into the building,” Mr Lowe said.
“I had to try to catch the bat while everyone inside was freaking out and eventually I managed to release it into the wild.
“An interesting fact about that particular job is we are one of about three companies in Queensland with a licence to relocate the endangered micro bat.”
TECKnology uses technology
Mr Lowe said TECKnology also helped Council keep an eye on troublesome magpies in the area.
“We have a drone which we use to fly up to magpie nests to check on the baby birds,” he said.
“One day we were doing some drone work at one of the local beaches and while the drone was up near the nests, there was a whale in the ocean passing by.
“Those are the days when you sit back in awe and think ‘wow, I love my job’.”
Mr Lowe said having Indigenous knowledge about the way different animal groups worked together was of great benefit to his job.
“It helps us manage animals in a proactive manner,” he said.
“It also allows us to mentor youth and show our young people that our culture and knowledge is relevant.
“We should be very proud of our 80,000 years of learning and know that even now, we can use that knowledge to help the environment thrive.”
What is TECKnology?
TECK is an acronym for Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge, ‘ology’ from the Latin to speak or ‘logy’ from the Greek to study.
The mission and vision of TECK is to utilise the ancient land management practices and scientific understanding of the First People to enhance modern best practices and innovate existing systems.
