Koala Rescue

Ann and David visited us in SC May, 2007. They are Ozzie friends who are part of a Koala Rescue Team effort. We had the priviledge of going out with them last year when a koala that had been treated at Australia Zoo’s hospital (Steve Irwin’s zoo) was released back into his home environment. (see photos)


As I wrote earlier, if a koala is over 4 years of age, it must be returned to the same general area from which it was rescued. Otherwise it is removed to a less inhabited area.

Because society is infringing on the koala’s territory and trees are being replaced with buildings and parking lots, koalas sometimes loose their happy home and/or are injured by dogs or cars while (very slowly) walking across the road.
David and Ann had invited us out for a barbee last night (a very Australian experience in itself!) when their on-call mobile went off. A koala had been hit by two separate cars while crossing the road and was in very serious condition. We all four jumped into their 4 WD and took off! Since it gets dark here by 6 p.m., the whole experience seemed surreal. We arrived to find a female koala who had been hurt quite seriously. Now, koalas in captivity are pretty comfortable around humans, but these in the open are definitely wild animals, as attested by the many bite marks on rescuers.
Ann and David have been wonderful friends to injured koalas and often miss sleep because of rescue missions.They told us a few secrets which we’ll share (just in case you ever come upon an injured koala): 1. If they climb a tree after being injured, put a plastic bag on a very long pole and wave it above them—they come straight down the tree, so be ready with a bag or cage to confine them; 2. Grab a koala from behind and hold their upper arms out straight so they can’t bite you as easily; 3. If a dead mum has an underdeveloped baby attached to a teet, put a safety pin through the teet before cutting it off. Don’t ever try to pull the developing young off the teet or its whole jaw will come out (it’s like an umbilical cord to them). The safety pin is so the “young” won’t aspirate the teet when you cut it loose. (Probably more than you wanted to know, but the “Dr. Doolittles” [vet-wanna-bes] among our readers may find it interesting.)
Anyway, we arrived at the zoo after closing hour, but had called ahead, so security met us at the gate. It was strange to drive by the darkened zoo that had pictures of Steve and Bindy every place. A veterinary nurse greeted us at the hospital and put an oxygen mask over the koala’s face, but it was shortly realised (AU spelling) that this one had been hurt too seriously and had probably died on our way to hospital.

We were able to look around at other patients. A koala that David and Ann had rescued recently was recovering nicely from a broken arm which had been “pinned”.

There are about 60 koalas currently in hospital. Many koalas suffer from Chlamydia, a bacteria that affects reproductive organs and also causes blindness. Extensive research is being done at the AU Zoo hospital to try to discover a vaccination to stop the spread of this deadly disease among the koalas. (By the way, don’t visualize this as a huge animal hospital—it is a very small tin shed, but money is being raised to build a larger, much needed, facility for both care and research).


There were also lots of carpet pythons in hospital (I’d hate to be on that rescue team—even though they’re not poisonous), various birds, echidna, and kangaroos (most of those were outside). They also rescue very poisonous injured snakes (carefully). As we said one other time, all animals in AU are considered precious and so are protected. In our minds, one of the ways Ozzies are so unique is how much they cherish the flora and fauna God has placed here—unfortunately, few recognize the Creator!