Written by Susannah Keogh
Beyond the acute vulnerabilities of the koala and the challenges of safeguarding the species, there are of course beautiful stories of resilience and hope that we feel are equally important to share, Enya’s is one such story.
Whilst nowhere near the exceptional case of Wendy who lived to the ripe old age of twenty years, our star today is named Enya and has done surprisingly well in the wild.
Enya was raised by our dear friends at Wildcare in SE Queensland, specifically Anika. She was just 182 grams when she came into care (June 2015), she was barely covered in fur and spent her first few weeks in an incubator to help her develop. Because of her tiny size she required intensive care by Anika, who did a remarkable job. She eventually grew up to be a strong little joey with a fair bit of attitude.
Enya was released on the property of Honorary Life Members Ros and Bill who have a large soft release, koala kindy plantation and plenty of beautiful koala habitat surrounding their property. As is usual for female joeys after soft release, once the gate was open, Enya disappeared during the night. It was about twelve months later when she returned to the property, but she wasn’t alone. Hanging onto Enya’s back for dear life was her first joey. It is always an enormous joy and relief when released female koalas are sighted with full pouches or overweight piggyback passengers. The elation is doubled knowing the female in question was hand-raised from such a young age.
After browsing on one of the favourite eucalyptus trees on the property, and showing off her hard work, once again she disappeared into the bush. Most years after that, Enya would make a short appearance to have a nice lunch on eucalyptus leaves and show Ros and Bill her new bub. She continued to thrive as did her young but a few years ago, her annual visits ceased, and we all assumed she had succumbed to disease or injury, which considering her age and the number of joeys she had produced was still above average.
About a month ago, I received a call from Ros saying that she had a tagged female with back young in the favoured tree near their house. Without clear sight of the ear tag number the only thing we had to identify her by was the pattern on her nose. The moment I saw the photo of this mysterious mum I was quite sure that it was Enya the koala. Between Anika, Ros and myself, many photos were scoured over for similarities and whilst it is not identical, it is very similar and after much discussion, we are agreed it is her.
The remarkable thing about Enya, apart from still successfully raising joeys at the age of ten, she is in excellent health with no sign of disease or reason for concern. We all hope to be seeing Enya again in the coming years as she continues to inspire us with her tenacity.
If you enjoyed reading this story, you might also enjoy the following:
- The Wild Story of Wendy the Koala
- The Story of Chunky and Junior
- Pala’s Story
- The World Loses a Beloved Koala – Ember
- Liz’s Legacy
If you wish to support our Carers, the Care Centre and the Koala Hospital in the Northern Rivers, please donate or become a Friend of the Koala Hospital. We urgently need funds to continue to raise joeys to become successful wild koalas who contribute to the survival of their species!
