How likely a koala is to survive a bushfire depends on many factors, including the type of fire, where the koala was, the type of vegetation, any escape routes, and how easy it is to access the area to rescue, etc.

Once they are rescued, a koala’s survival depends on the severity of their injuries.

The sooner we get to rescue the koala, the higher the chance we can save them. Our emergency response volunteers must have the appropriate training and PPE and access the fireground as soon as it is safe. Bushfire appeal donations contribute to the necessary training and equipment.

Koalas are affected in many ways by bushfires. Bushfires can leave koalas burnt, blind, injured, and/or trapped under trees, and with limited or no food.

The heat of the fires can make koalas heat stressed, distressed and dehydrated, with increased toxicity. They also suffer from trauma, confusion, and smoke inhalation.

The fires affect koala’s precious food trees, either destroying them or stripping moisture from the leaves, which can cause life-threatening dehydration and lack of nutrition.

Koalas searching for new trees spend more time on the ground, leaving them at greater risk of being hit by a vehicle or attacked by a dog.

We tailor the rescue and subsequent medical treatment to each koala based on their injuries. The required treatment for koalas in the koala hospital could include medication, surgical intervention, and/or extensive rehabilitation.

Superficial burns typically require a month-long treatment plan, severe burns may require a comprehensive care regime lasting up to six months. In the initial stages, we do daily bandage changes for three to five days to address tissue decay. To manage dehydration, we replenish fluids intravenously or orally each day, along with the administration of anaesthetics.

As the healing process progresses, a granulation bed forms, leading to a reduction in the frequency of bandage changes. Throughout this process, koalas are under the constant care of the hospital’s intensive care unit until we can transfer them to a rehabilitation facility.

We give koalas in care a protein-rich supplement to compensate for protein loss from the burns until their skin regenerates. Sometimes, the regrowth of nails may also be required before we can safely release a koala back into the wild, further extending the duration of treatment.

Since the 2019-20 Black Summer Fires, we have been building our capacity to respond to bushfires and other emergencies. We have increased the number of people trained to respond in field search and rescue teams, in triage, and in bandaging burns. We have some PPE and equipment, such as helmets, boots, bags, and field uniforms, however, there is still so much we need to be equipped with!

We appointed a volunteer Emergency Response Coordinator and Incident Management Team who have prepared an Emergency Response Plan and Evacuation Plan, and we are working with other wildlife organisations in the Northern Rivers, and State Government (National Parks and Wildlife Service, Rural Fire Service, State Emergency Service, Environment Protection Authority) to improve our ability to provide the best and most timely response to koalas in need of assessment and care.

We have 239 active volunteers who are undertaking many roles to help our koalas. We have several volunteers trained to search for koalas following bushfires. These volunteers can visually assess koalas, determining if they suffer from burns, injuries, or illness, are affected by smoke inhalation or are displaced, requiring rescuing. We also operate NSW’s largest koala hospital with specialist vets and vet nurses to treat koalas in need of care. 

Bushfires are a common occurrence in Australia because of a combination of factors. The causes of bushfires include:

Climate and Weather

Australia's climate is predominantly hot and dry, creating ideal conditions for bushfires. Heatwaves and prolonged dry spells can make vegetation very dry and more susceptible to catching fire.

Eucalyptus Trees

A significant portion of Australia’s vegetation comprises eucalyptus trees, which contain oils that are highly flammable. This makes fires spread rapidly once they start.

Natural Causes

Lightning strikes are a natural cause of bushfires. During thunderstorms, especially in remote areas, lightning can ignite dry vegetation.

Human Activity

Accidents (like campfires left unattended), arson, or even discarded cigarettes can lead to bushfires. Sometimes, landowners might conduct controlled burns that get out of hand and become uncontrolled fires.

Climate Change

Recent research forecasts that climate change will likely lead to hotter and drier conditions in parts of Australia, increasing the likelihood and intensity of bushfires.

Urban Expansion

As urban areas expand into bushland, the risk of property damage from bushfires increases. This also means that more ignition sources (from human activities) are closer to bushland areas.

We need bushfire funds for:

• Training more volunteers in emergency response roles
• The purchase of PPE, materials and equipment for field assessment and rescue operations (e.g. additional transporting cages and rescue equipment, backpacks, communication radios, GPSs, binoculars, cameras, staging area equipment)
• The purchase of an emergency response trailer, emergency response and management signs, and gear for staging areas near the location of the emergency.
• The purchase of medical and material supplies to treat koalas in need of care,
• Hire vehicles, tree climbers, cherry pickers, koala detection dogs, thermal imaging drones, travel and transport costs, and veterinarian costs.
• The ongoing care of rescued koalas before we can safely release them–from one week to several months for each koala.
• Once the fires are out, we continue with koala health assessments to check those koalas that survived the bushfires that we initially deemed okay have not suffered because of temporary or permanent loss of habitat.

During emergency events, we often receive offers of material donations to assist in the response.

While we appreciate these offers, medical and material donations usually divert people and time away from critical response actions and use space for much-needed items for koala rescue, treatment and recovery.

We will always need additional resources when a koala emergency occurs, and the best way the community can support us during emergencies is through financial donations.

Your financial donations to our emergency bushfire appeal really make a difference, and we can’t do what we do without your generous support.