A Murdoch University alumnus has deployed his mobile wildlife hospital in Exmouth to help treat injured wildlife following the devastating fallout from ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle.

The region is in desperate need of assistance as hundreds of animals such as turtle hatchlings, dolphins, reptiles, sea snakes and sea birds have washed ashore along the coast in WA’s north.

Dr Stephen Van Mil is the founder and director of Wildlife Recovery Australia, a registered charity and not-for-profit company based in Byron Bay on a mission to conserve and protect Australian wildlife.

Dr Van Mil and his team operate Matilda, a fully equipped, gold-standard mobile wildlife hospital that can be rolled out wherever the need is greatest.

A full-sized, custom-built semi-trailer, Matilda is the first of her kind in Australia, fitted with state-of-the-art veterinary equipment.

“Matilda is a genuine mobile veterinary hospital with absolutely everything that a gold-standard bricks-and-mortar veterinary hospital has,” Dr Van Mil said.

Dr Van Mil and Matilda had just left Kangaroo Island as part of a national tour when he received a call for help from Exmouth.

“Literally as we came off Kangaroo Island, I got a call from Exmouth. The cyclone had just hit, and we were asked to deploy there,” he said.

The team crossed the Nullarbor, and after a brief period on standby in Perth waiting for the roads to open, Matilda arrived in Exmouth on Monday night and has immediately got to work treating injured wildlife.

“The scale of injured wildlife we’re seeing is confronting and deeply saddening,” Dr Van Mil said.

“So many animals have been impacted at once and many urgently need veterinary care. But this is exactly why Matilda exists — she was designed to deploy rapidly into disaster zones and provide immediate aid where it’s needed most.

While the circumstances are heartbreaking, being able to get on the ground quickly and make a real difference for these animals is incredibly motivating, and we’re focused on giving them the best possible chance of recovery.