G’day from everyone at Friends of the Koala – especially the furry ‘nap champions of the world’ in our Koala Care Centre! The vibe here is – you guessed it – laid back, koalas (like Australians) are known to be pretty unfazed about most things – except perhaps a male adversary and a good eucalyptus leaf. Even though we are laid back – we’re still very busy and things haven’t started to wind down in the new year!
It’s February and that means Valentine’s Day for those who celebrate it. It’s a great time to adopt a koala for your Valentine!
Let’s get to the koalas and joeys in our Care Centre, Koala Kindy and Home Care and the koalas who were recently released too! Since our last update, you might have read on our socials that Buddi, Geoffrey, Chester and Honeydew were all released back to the wild. Since then Bastion and Arvy have also gone home whilst… drum roll…. Bunja has gone to soft release where we can monitor him in the big trees. So far he is climbing and getting on well – what a champ! We are stoked for him!
Pemulway and Baby Cakes
Pemulway and Baby Cakes both headed off to plantation to be monitored in the big trees. Whilst Baby Cakes took her time and wasn’t overly exuberant about climbing out of her cage, Pemulway seemed right at home in his new beautiful, peaceful home in the big outdoors. Both did really well and were brought back in for their final assessments passing with flying colours. Soft release will be opened very soon where they can explore their new world of freedom! Aw we will miss these cuties!!
Thor
Unfortunately a congenital disability was identified in little Thor. Multiple digits did not form as they should when he was growing and whilst he did go to Koala Kindy for a while, he had trouble gripping like other joeys and had some minor falls. His disability is probably why he fell from his mum Athena too. We continued to monitor Thor closely, his ability to grip was deteriorating and his dental disease (gingivitis) was also worsening whereby some of his teeth loose. Eventually this would have impaired his ability to eat. The very difficult decision was made and Thor was put to sleep.
Fudge
Fudge has graduated to Kindy, she is eating really well, gaining weight and generally thriving, we have begun weaning her from milk – the next step to big joey status!
Little Pancake, Bindi and Reggae have all graduated to Koala Kindy and the all girl gang seem to be getting along well. They each have their own favourite sections and it won’t be long until Pancake and Bindi head out to plantation! The babies are growing up!
The Home Care Kids!
Liz has a new joey to look after!
Higgins
Eight month old Higgins was admitted in early February with her mum Missy. Missy very sadly died following multiple bee stings. She had an allergic reaction to the stings and her face was visibly very swollen. Our vet team began treatment but she passed away only a few hours later. Higgins is now in home care with Liz. Poor Missy and Higgins – this is terribly sad. We do know that Higgins is in good hands with Liz.
That brings us to the big boys and girls in our Koala Care Centre!
Blaze
Eleven year old Blaze, has completed his course of antibiotics for conjunctivitis and will be retested to see if he is clear to go home! Well done Blaze!
Curly Boy and Frenchie
Both Curly Boy (5 years) and Frenchie (3 years) were admitted with conjunctivitis and cystitis – they have both completed their antibiotic treatment and will be retested next week.
Daffodil and Bidziil
Three year old Daffodil and her eight month old joey Bidziil are both doing great. Daffodil has returned a negative test for Chlamydia, she will have another health assessment before she is cleared to go home. Bidziil is eating well and gaining lots of weight! Fingers crossed they can go home very soon!
Whisper
Whisper is still undergoing antibiotic treatment and is doing well.
Mars
Mars is a new male koala of about six years old who was admitted last week with conjunctivitis – he has some minor kidney issues and so we are delaying antibiotics until he is more stable.
Saturn
Saturn is another new male koala, Saturn is about nine years old and was admitted with cystitis and conjunctivitis. He is showing signs of early gut dysbiosis and so have also delayed his antibiotic treatment.
Husk
Four year old Husk was found limping across the road. He has large old puncture wounds to his right hind leg that appear to be from a dog bite. The wounds are severely infected and have spread to the bone and joint. This has caused considerable pain and swelling in his leg and has also reduced his range of motion. For now Husk is in ICU receiving IV fluids, pain relief and antibiotics. For koalas, dog bites can be and often are fatal. This koala is in so much pain. If you would like to know more about koala and dog encounters, please continue reading here.
That’s if for this month! Just on a final note, you don’t need a special day to hang out with someone you love and care about. You can do that any day of the week. You also don’t need (and the environment and our koalas will thank you for it) to buy love with material gifts – true affection isn’t tied to how much you spend! That said, if you are one of the Australians who do celebrate the day and have an animal-lover to buy for or you are just looking to buy a unique gift for someone you love or yourself then our koala adoption is a beautiful, thoughtful and impactful gift!
Fast facts:
It is estimated that Australians will spend $1.53 billion this Valentine’s Day, whilst our friends in the US are predicted to spend an estimated $27.5 billion – we don’t have worldwide figures – but it would be an enormous amount of money! What if we donated even a fraction of that to saving koalas? Even a microdonation of a dollar when you are purchasing something else online can have a big impact over a period of time – it’s small enough to have no transaction fees and makes giving easier for you!
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