A wildlife volunteer and fire brigade on the NSW Central Coast have made a plea to those killing native animals in the area: just stop.
A live goanna with an arrow shot through its stomach became the latest case of animal cruelty on Wednesday afternoon after being spotted by a member of the public up a tree on a fire trail at Wyee Point.
James Cooney from Wildlife ARC, a volunteer native animal protection group, attended the scene and found the injured animal "15 to 20 feet up the tree".
"The arrow went through its back and came out through its stomach," he said.
"My best guess is that it's probably a couple of kids who got a compound bow and arrows as a Christmas present, just walking around the bush and shooting anything they can find."
He said he had never seen anything like it in almost 11 years of rescuing snakes and lizards.
The goanna was taken to a vet clinic and put under general anesthesia where the arrow was removed.
Mr Cooney has been given a course of antibiotics to administer to the goanna twice a day.
He said despite goannas being like "a skink on steroids" he had seen reptiles die as a result of stress, and urged people responsible to "please stop".
"Native Australian reptiles are all protected so you can't kill them," he said.
Other native animals in the area have not been as lucky.
A joey was shot with an arrow at the Wyee Point Park on Sunday and another adult kangaroo was killed on Wednesday morning, a post on the Wyee Point Rural Fire Brigade's Facebook page reads.
"These killings have to stop," the post said.
The fire brigade is urging local residents to report any suspicious activity to police.
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