Polar Star is one of the most adorable and interesting discoveries by Friends of the Koala’s Project Officers, Ms. Maria Matthes, and Ms. Ina Egermann, during their regular koala health checks for the fantastic Friends of the Koala project “Hanging out at East Coraki: koalas thriving in an agricultural landscape,” supported with funding from the Australian Government.
“It was September last year, doing our Spring health checks when we noticed this super white tiny koala on her mum Vienne’s back, and taking her first climbs away from mum to eat leaf. Ina and I thought wow she has either has albinism or leucism. After a bit of watching, we thought she was more albino, which was later confirmed as partial albinism, a rare condition whereby an animal has a loss of pigmentation,” Ms. Matthes described.
“While the little one looked different, and had light grey eyes, suggesting she could be vision impaired, she looked really well so we decided to a keep a closer watch on her. Ina named her Polar Star because she was as bright as a little star. When we saw her in November, Polar Star was on her own, with mum nearby. She still looked in great condition and if she was vision impaired it didn’t seem to be affecting her. We were still a bit worried so alerted all our landholders in the area to keep an eye out for Polar Star.”
Ms. Egermann said “only two days later I received a call from one of our landholders who had found Polar Star in a tiny non-food tree with hardly any foliage in the bright sun. I spent the next two hours on-site, observing her from every angle, and checked her scats. Apart from her uniqueness in fur colour, eye colour, and her pale pads, she looked strong and healthy. After conversing with Maria and Friends of the Koala’s Superintendent vet Dr. Jackie Reed for advice, it was decided to leave her and keep watching her health and behaviour. The next day she had moved to a Paperbark tree, and while I couldn’t stop worrying, she still looked good.”
”Polar Star wasn’t sighted again until December. Seeing her in the patch of small Forest Red Gums was a massive relief for us. Polar Star had travelled around 600m to find these trees. She still looked in excellent condition, but we were quite confident she had some vision impairment from the way she was listening to us. Four days later, the landholder had noticed her wandering aimlessly, causing him to think we might be right, and she is blind. That’s when we made the decision to rescue her. I brought her into Friends of the Koala, where our wonderful Dr. Reed examined her thoroughly, especially testing her vision using various techniques.”
“Polar Star was very healthy in every way, but she was blind, or may at best see shadows. She may have survived perfectly well in the wild, but under the Code of Practice she could not be released back in the wild. This only left two options, euthanasia or become a koala in permanent care. As her eyesight was her only limiting factor, and she was doing well in care, I decided to apply for a permanent licence, that would enable Friends of the Koala to keep her as a permanent koala. The The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) recently granted the licence and Polar Star is a shining star with all the Friends of the Koala volunteers,” said Dr. Reed.
Silva Everaers, Friends of the Koala General Manager said “Polar Star is now looking forward to a bright future, sharing a run with other permanent care koalas, Ivy, and Charlotte, who seem to all be getting along well together. As Friends of the Koala relies on community support to help fund the looking after our koalas, I encourage people to join Friends of the Koala as a member or volunteer, adopt Polar Star or another of our koalas, or join Joey Buddies, where you will find out more about Polar Star.”
About Friends of the Koala:
Friends of the Koala’s mission is to make a significant contribution to Australia’s biodiversity by ensuring the conservation of the iconic koala and the preservation and enhancement of its habitat, particularly in the Northern Rivers Region of New South Wales. The organisation plays a crucial role in protecting and rehabilitating koala populations through its dedicated efforts, including habitat protection, restoration and creation, rescue and rehabilitation, education and advocacy, and the operation of a specialised koala hospital.
Friends of the Koala was established in 1986 to create habitat for koalas and then increased its focus to rescuing and rehabilitating koalas obtaining its license from NPWS in 1993. The first care centre was opened in 2018 becoming a specialist koala hospital in 2020. The organisation has recently rebranded the hospital to Northern Rivers Koala Hospital.
For more information or to donate, please visit www.friendsofthekoala.org or contact Maria Matthes, Project Manager, 0467 855 990 maria@friendsofthekoala.org.
