It is with heavy hearts that the Friends of the Koala community mourns the passing of Vale Dr. Ros Irwin – Honorary Life Member, Tree of Famer, and tireless champion for wildlife and environmental advocacy. Ros passed away on Sunday, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy of care, conviction, and commitment to koalas, conservation, and the … Read more
News
Koala Kindy and Care Centre June
G’day and welcome to June and a slightly quieter month with most of the joeys having returned to the wild – awesome news of course!! In many cases, by the time koalas reach our hospital and are showing visible signs of illness, their condition is advanced and therefore more difficult to treat. While the prognosis … Read more
Statement on the Victorian Koala Crisis
Friends of the Koala is deeply saddened by the recent events in Budj Bim National Park, where bushfire-impacted koalas were euthanised through aerial shooting. This tragic situation underscores the urgent need for comprehensive, humane, and transparent strategies to address the welfare of koalas facing habitat loss and environmental stressors. We echo IFAW’s call for an … Read more
Koala Kindy and Care Centre May 2025
Welcome to May at Friends of the Koala. It’s been a very wet beginning to the month here in the Northern Rivers with steady rainfall in the region, and some areas recording up to 100 mm of rain. Luckily though we haven’t been as severely impacted as other regions on the mid North Coast which … Read more
Hospital Expansion
The Northern Rivers Koala Hospital officially opened in 2021 although we employed our first Veterinary Surgeon and received the approval to operate a specialist Koala Hospital in 2020, 5 years ago now. Since then, the demand for our services has continued to grow in response to the increasingly challenging environment for koalas. We now tend … Read more
Are koalas good mothers?
It’s Mother’s Day in Australia on Sunday May 11th! It’s also Mother’s Day in New Zealand, Canada, the USA, Germany, Italy, India, Japan, South Africa, Brazil, Malaysia and Singapore whilst Mexico is on Saturday 10th May. Mother’s Day is important because it is a special day to honour the special person who has given you … Read more
Meet Dr Kate Thomas: Compassionate Care at the Heart of Koala Medicine
We’re thrilled to introduce Dr Kate Thomas, our new Superintendant Veterinarian taking over from Dr Jodie Wakeman. With over a decade of experience in animal care, Dr Kate brings a powerful mix of compassion, clinical expertise, and a deep commitment to conservation. Since joining us in September 2024, Dr Kate has been making an incredible … Read more
Koala Kindy and Care Centre April 2025
G’day, g’day from the entire Friends of the Koala family and of course our furry friends! It’s hard to believe that we are already half way through April! Although our days are still warm (around 26 degrees) our nights are getting a little cooler! Below, you’ll see that the number of joeys being admitted has … Read more
Fun facts about koalas – Polar Star
Would you like to know some fun facts about koalas? Of course you would! What about the stunningly unique Polar Star who became a permanent resident with Friends of the Koala last year? We recently had a question over on our YouTube account about Polar Star’s partial albinism. The question was – “I wondered if … Read more
Koala Kindy and Care Centre March 2025
Hello from the Northern Rivers where we continue to rescue koalas in the aftermath of Cyclone Alfred as well as clean up the destruction left behind. As our recovery efforts continue, we acknowledge our amazing heroes – our volunteers who stood strong, ensuring our koalas in need were reported and rescued under extremely challenging conditions. … Read more
