Aussie animal sanctuary desperately needs funds for generator

An animal sanctuary in regional South Australia is raising money for a generator, which will power life-saving equipment in the event of a blackout.

Gumby's Kangaroo and Wildlife Sanctuary, located 22 kilometres south of Port Pirie, currently cares for 31 orphaned kangaroos.

The owners, Andrew and Jasmine Oswold, say they have suffered six power losses in the past year.

The longest lasted 17 hours.

"That was pretty horrendous," Mrs Oswold said.

The sanctuary relies on power keep the kangaroo milk formula refrigerated, and warm up wheat bags for the joeys.

When caring for a critically ill joey, the couple will also use a humidicrib which regulates the animal's body temperature.

"If I've got someone in the humidicrib, that's because they're critically ill anyway. You start screwing with their temperature and sadly... you'll lose them," Mrs Oswold said.

The couple is now fundraising to buy and install a backup generator.

"At the end of the day, we need to be self-sufficient here to look after these guys," Mr Oswold said.

They're hoping to hit their target of $3000.

"It would mean we can provide the best care possible all the time. We wouldn't have to worry about the power going out," Mrs Oswold said.