Adopt Triumph
Adopt Me!Triumph was rescued in March 2017, after his mother died from disease. Straight away rescuers noticed he was missing a foot on his right leg, possibly due to injury. After a thorough vet check, it was discovered he was born without it and instead of an ankle, he had a little stump with a small foot pad on the end. As he was still a joey, about 10 months old, he was cared for by a volunteer koala carer.
After a month in care, Triumph was treated for chlamydial pneumonia which can be quite stubborn to cure. As with all things, Triumph took his time but made a complete recovery, and once recovered, moved into Koala Kindy with 5 other joeys at the Friends of the Koala Care Centre.
He was very brave, being the smallest joey in the group, but was soon snuggling and fighting with the best of them. Even though his weight, personality and maturity was similar to his kindy friends, his dexterity was well below par. Triumph often slipped and was found hanging upside down after losing his balance quite regularly. It was frustrating to watch – he was doing everything else perfectly, but he just couldn’t get his head around his foot not being there.
Months passed by with his roommates being released and new roommates moving in. He adjusted to change well but was really taking his time developmentally. After some time, he started to show signs that he was maturing. This started with bellowing, a sound much like a teenage boy’s voice cracking, followed by his scent gland becoming active and some inappropriate humping (mostly of his carer, as she was the one handling him). We had to come up with a plan!
While releasing koalas back into the wild is the best outcome for those that come into care, all options must be considered and given Triumph only has three feet, we had to consider the possibility that he may never be released.
After being moved to a larger enclosure by himself for a few weeks, Triumph was transferred to a plantation kindy with one of his kindy pals. Here he had the opportunity to climb smaller trees and completely feed himself. While he climbed up all 59 trees with ease, he always struggled climbing down, making him un-releasable.
He now calls Friends of the Koala home and we are so lucky to have him!
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Triumph’s New Tree
We love all koalas here at Friends of the Koala, but there is one koala which is a favourite amongst volunteers and visitors alike. His name is Triumph and we’ve been busy over the last couple of weeks building him a brand-new enclosure!
Triumph came to Friends of the Koala in March 2017 when he was about 10 months old. His mum died from disease, so he was raised by a volunteer koala carer. What makes Triumph extra special is the fact that he was born with only three feet! His deformity makes climbing and jumping a little difficult, so he now calls Friends of the Koala home.
Up until now, Triumph has been residing in one of our smaller rehabilitation enclosures and as a growing male he needed more space. As Triumph can’t be release, it was integral that we built an enclosure that was not only wider and longer but higher.
We were lucky enough to receive $5000 from Lismore City Council’s Annual Community Grants Scheme to help fund the project. JAZZ Construction built the enclosure over a month and were very obliging in dealing with our long list of requirements – one of which was to install a huge tree inside the enclosure. The tree, which was already dead, had to be cut to size, transported to the centre by truck and craned into the enclosure. This was no mean feat considering it was pouring rain that day but after a nail-biting couple of minutes it was secured, and we could see the perch system take place.
Once JAZZ Construction finished the enclosure, it was our turn to make the final finishing touches like installing the sand substrate, shade cloth and leafing pots. It was then time for Triumph to move in! While he was hesitant at first, he quickly got the hang of his new perches and has now found his favourite fork right at the top of the tree.
Big thanks to Julie Reid, our Project Coordinator, Lismore City Council, Jazz Construction and our volunteers for assisting with the project – Triumph seems to love his new enclosure!