News flash: "Koala bites dog"

If ever I'm in a tight situation, Bellevue Scrapper is definitely the koala I'd want in my corner.

Bellevue Scrapper
From koalawrangler's gallery.

If you've read my disclaimer above, you'll see that I'm not above admitting my lack of know-how in the medical department. I enjoy learning about the scientific side of koala care, primarily because it contributes to my understanding of each koala's "story", but I can be slow on the uptake sometimes. I'm an Arts graduate, okay?! I'll give you an example.

It's Thursday and I've just finished my work in the yards and have ventured into ICU to see what needs doing in there. There's action in the treatment room: Jarrod, Cheyne and Amanda are inspecting a small koala on the treatment table.

Bellevue Scrapper
From koalawrangler's gallery.

KW: "Who's this?".
Cheyne: "A new one: Bellevue Scrapper"

Scrapper got into a scrap with a dog so they are checking her for any wounds. I'm continually amazed at how placid koalas tend to be, showing little more than an ear-wiggle that they're distressed or annoyed. But this particular koala seems to be exceptionally docile as they gently move her about searching out scratches or bite-marks.

Cheyne's pretty used to my dopey questions by now, but I really excel with the following.

Bellevue Scrapper
From koalawrangler's gallery.

KW: "So is it normal for a koala to let you move her around like that?"
Cheyne: "Well, she is unconscious"
KW: "But her eyes are open!"
Cheyne: "Yes, the eyes do stay open when they're under"
KW: "Ohhhhhhhhh". (*thinks to herself* quick, say something brilliant so they don't think you're a complete dork) "So when I got my wisdom teeth out, my eyes were open the whole time???!!!"

Okay, I decided to stop while I was behind.

Bellevue Scrapper's foot
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Bellevue Scrapper's story is a something of a curious one. She was involved in a dog attack, which is a common and horribly depressing occurrence with our urban koalas, especially during mating season (um not because of any weird cross-species hanky-panky, but because mating koalas are on the ground more where, sadly, dogs are king). But, according to the people who brought her in, it was Scrapper who attacked the dog, not the other way round! And Scrapper doesn't have a scratch on her...a couple of ticks, but not a scratch. What makes this story all the more unique is that Scrapper is a tiny little thing, barely more than a juvenile. Cheyne hazarded that she is no more than 18 months old. I don't know how the dog came off following the altercation, but I wouldn't think it'd be woofing too loudly about this one with its canine pals right now. If ever I'm in a tight situation, Bellevue Scrapper is definitely the koala I'd want in my corner.

Perhaps koalas are evolving to take on dogs on their own turf? (Probably not, but it makes for an amusing theory). Scrapper's case is so sadly ironic because we usually have the opposite case on our hands, and the koalas come off far worse than the dogs.

Recently we have had a spate of dog attacks lately. Salamander Bay Josie came to us from our friends at the Native Animal Trust Fund after a dog attack degloved her foot. She is with us to undergo rehab and physio to the area. Dunbogan Mastiff wasn't so lucky and died after an attack by a Mastiff hound.

There's been some releases too. Pacific Highway Vina who tried to "self-release" last week by hightailing it into another yard and up a tree was officially released during the week. She's made an amazing recovery considering she was in such a bad way after being hit by a car only a few weeks ago.

Poor old Comboyne Ken who had a crushed wrist was euthanased and, I'm sad to say, little Cathie Ali.

Comboyne Ken From broken_puzzle's gallery.

Cathie Ali From koalawrangler's gallery.

On a happier note, Chisholm Dave (the one Pete and I rescued from a Camelia bush after taking a dip in a backyard pool [Dave, not me or Pete] was released, as was Pacific Simon who was scampering up Pacific Drive when he was brought in.

Click here to view more of today's koala hospital snaps.

A bagful o' Dave

Chisholm Dave, high & dry
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Last week, the hospital yards seemed chockful of koalas and most of the gunyahs bristled with leaf. The volume of koalas tends to coincide with the warmer weather when koalas are on the move seeking out other koalas for mating. This puts them in unwanted path of dogs and cars as they leave their comfortable branches to traverse backyards and urban streets. It's no coincidence that male koala patients have been in the majority lately, as these frisky boys venture out for some summer lovin'.

Remember the marsupial lothario who was pursuing Roto Abigail, the wild koala mum who lives just outside the hospital grounds near Roto House? He's been eyeing up some of our female patients for a while now, so it was decided that Roto Randy, as he's been dubbed, should be relocated to an area with healthy females, not those recovering from motor vehicle accidents, koala flu, and the like. The last thing our girls need is a male grunting and snuffling about the place while they're recuperating.

Lighthouse Barry
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Cuddly Ocean Jane is missing from her usual spot in yard 2. She's been given the all-clear and released. Limping Livingstone Clover has also made the trip to Walkabout Wildlife Sanctuary where he'll hopefully help beef up their koala numbers.

Lighthouse Barry has also re-entered the wild, which is a relief, since we could barely keep him on his gunyah once he was transferred outside. He kept climbing up onto his roof and John, Jim and Pete took turns in propping a pole up for him to ease himself down to the ground.

Perks Chris is still doing his border patrol, trotting in regular steps around his yard. Emma's just finished Chris's yard and is starting on the koala in yard 1. The gate to the adjacent yard is open, which is unusual. She points skyward and I train my eyes up the tree in the next door yard.


Perks Chris & Lighthouse Barry
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Pacific Highway Vina
From koalawrangler's gallery.

There's a koala unbelievably high up, hugging a thick tree branch and looking for all the world like she's smiling smugly. Emma tells me it's Pacific Highway Vina, which is wonderful! She was so very fragile when she first came in after being hit by a car on the Pacific Highway a few weeks back. When I last saw her in ICU, she could hardly chew and even struggled to take in the liquid formula. Now here she is jumping fences and shimmying up trees -- a sure sign that she's on the mend. The hospital isn't Fort Knox; the outside yards balance the open-air freedom the furry patients crave with a modicum of security measures. Some crafty koalas will inevitably find a way out, but usually only into the next yard, and this doesn't happen very often. Emma replenishes Vina's gunyah with leaf. There'll be a eucalyptus smorgasbord waiting for her should she decide to return to earth.

Flynn Mick
From koalawrangler's gallery.

The outside yards are well in hand so I start on newcomer Cathie Ali in ICU. She's a small female who regards me warily as I enter and start to clean out her unit. She's a clean girl; there's only a small smattering of tiny poo's on the newspaper beneath where she's perched on her gunyah. I start sweeping out the newspaper and sweep up the poo. She's so far down one end of the gunyah that I can easily replace one of her towels. She's a suspected wet bottom, so they're probably waiting on test results to confirm her mode of treatment.

Just then Peter pops his head in to see if I'll join him on a rescue. Two koala sightings have been made within only a few blocks of the hospital. It constantly amazes me how embedded in suburbia our koalas are. The first one is behind a block of flats opposite Flynn's Beach. A shirtless fellow emerges from his apartment to describe how he saw a koala ambling up the driveway with a sore leg. There's a large fence the separates the flats from a clutch of trees. Pete spots the big fellow high in one of these trees and far out of reach of even our longest poles. Unless he voluntarily moves to a more accessible spot, there'll be no getting to him, which is a shame since he obviously needs some medical care.

Chisholm Dave
From koalawrangler's gallery.

We head off to the next koala location. On another suburban street, there's a couple of kids waiting as we arrive. They take us to their front yard swimming pool and there, shivering in a Camelia tree is a very wet koala. Chisholm Dave, as he is to be known, has picked a good tree (for us, not for him). It's very low and with the help of a step ladder, Peter manages to wrestle him off the tree. I'm standing by with a bag and help by pulling and pushing branches out from under Dave's claws so that he eventually tumbles into my outstretched canvas sack. At the last minute, he makes a grab for whatever he can get a hold of and manages to drag down the front of my shirt revealing my bra to all and sundry. I'm just glad it wasn't my skin he found purchase in. I'm past caring about modesty, as long as I've bagged my koala.

I've got my hands stretched out before me holding on tight to the neck of bag. I don't want to rest the koala against myself as they've been known to tear through the bag on occasion. So this koala deadweight is giving my bingo wings a workout. I walk quickly to the car and sit in the back with Dave next to me. We're only a a few streets away so in no time Dave's on the treatment table being towelled off by Peter. John and Jim get to work preparing Dave a new unit with fresh leaf. He looks like a new koala when he gets delivered to his room and sets upon the leaf straight away. The camelia bush obviously wasn't providing must in the way of sustenance.

Pacific Simon
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Keith's brought in another koala that made the mistake of running down the middle of Pacific Drive at 11.30pm last night. Fortunately, and amazingly, he wasn't hurt and Keith looked after him overnight before admitting him to the hospital today. He's a frisky little fellow, only a juvenile judging by his size and seems healthy. He has a very white, clean little bottom, but the towel from his basket is stained red, which unfortunately suggests there may be something wrong internally. Cheyne will have her work cut out for her on Monday with all these new admissions.

Cathie Ali
From koalawrangler's gallery.

I return to Cathie Ali and finish off her unit with some fresh wet leaf. I notice that there's something strange going on with her claws on her front right hand. The claws look like they're split or are shedding an external layer. She's very timid and scurries down the other end of her gunyah with John's help and I finish replacing her towels.

I scan the day book to find out about recent activity in the hospital. I'm saddened to see that Oceanview Terry was brought in DOA. He was one of the successful patients from the university chlamydia drug trials from last year.

Little Oxley Cori is a tiny 440g joey who was found miraculously alive sitting under a tree. He's gone straight into home care with one of our special koala foster mums. Comboyne Ken is another koala in home care. He's from an area about an hour inland from us here at Port Macquarie. He was covered in soot from the local bush fires and is suffering a broken wrist and general poor body condition. Speaking of soot, a recent patient Anna Bay Sooty has been sighted near a youth hostel with her baby Smudge. It's not often we find out that our ex-patients are doing well.

Click here and here to view more of today's koala hospital snaps.

Pacific Highway Vina

Ocean Jane
From koalawrangler's gallery.

I feel a bit lethargic as I lock my car and head towards the hospital entrance, but in yard 2, Ocean Jane's fluffy round ears are peeking over her leaf pots and the sight immediately turns my mood around.

I can also see Perks Chris over behind her. He's soaking up the sun and waiting for his leaf. Emma and Jarod are moving around the main yard by the clothes line full of the wash-cloths we use to wipe the koalas little faces after feeding.

On my way inside, I say hi to Carol in the shop. Pete's the teamleader as usual and Judy's supervising today. I check the board to see whose yards I've got, then head out to start on Livingstone Clover. Jarod's in with Kempsey and I pass him her feed-pot. She's nestled in her leaf, not snuffling around on the ground as she was the other day. She's got a bit of a cold or infection at the moment. I noticed her nose was a bit snotty on Thursday, and they're giving her antibiotics at the moment to deal with that. She's one of our precious permanent residents we vollies give five-star care.

Mr Clover is down on his gunyah eating yesterday's leaf. Amanda released him back into his yard on Thursday, which you can see on this video:


Clover was found limping across a busy road when he was admitted. He had an infection in his left knee, possibly as a result of an earlier motor vehicle accident. Consequently, he hobbles around a bit. He's destined to be transferred to Australian Walkabout Wildlife Sanctuary since his disability would inhibit his survival in the wild. In all other respects, he's a healthy male so he'll hopefully be able to contibute to the koala numbers over there. A few days before the transfer was due to take place, he took a tumble from his tree in the rehab climbing yard and was taken into ICU for observation. Now he's fit as a flea, and always has a good appetite for his leaf.

Livingstone Clover
From koalawrangler's gallery.

I see Chris and Jim pull up in the leaf/rescue truck and Jim jumps out with a koala basket in tow. In the treatment room, it's Chris who looks like he needs treatment: he's clutching a towel around his hand and there's blood spatter on his jeans. He got in the way of the koala's mouth. King Norm (the koala) is fine; just needs relocating. Meanwhile, Chris wonders if he needs stitches. Koalas are rarely very aggressive, but when provoked can deliver a nasty scratch or bite.

Back in the yard, I sort out Clover's recycle and cut his fresh leaf. Somewhere between rescuing and releasing, Chris has managed to bring in today's leaf supply as well. Clover made sure he gave it a right good sniff to decide which were the choicest leaves:


I head in to ICU to see whether they need help in there. Peter grabs the dirt trowel I'm holding and replaces it with a feed pot. There's a new admission who was brought in on Thursday night. She's a small female called Pacific Highway Vina. She was hit by a motor vehicle on the great highway that travels Australia's east coast. Cheyne got called out to collect her at midnight and it was touch and go for a while whether she should be euthanased. She suffered a fractured jaw and injuries to her rump and arm.

Judy with Pacific Highway Vina
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Judy took her into home care on Friday night. Often very sick koalas or joeys are packed into baskets with a rolled up towel between their arms that stands in for the tree. But Vina was a feisty one and wouldn't stay in put, which is often a sign that they have the gumption to pull through. She wasn't interested in my feeding her so I asked Judy to step in since she's had more experience with her. Vina's jaw makes it hard for her to chew leaf so it's vital she takes in formula to keep her strength up.

Lighthouse Barry - what a dude
From koalawrangler's gallery.

While Judy's coaxing Vina to feed, I set about preparing her leaf and cleaning her unit. There's not a lot of poop, due to her low leaf consumption, but I roll what up what there is in her newspaper floor cover. I get a flashlike memory of playing pass-the-parcel, only generally with sweets and little toys, rather than koala poo pellets(!).

Jim's looking after Lighthouse Barry who is a big old man koala suffering from what looks like conjunctivitus in his left eye. Apparently there's no eye there though, only an infection on the outside, which is being treated with a cream.

Pacific Sam
From broken_puzzle's gallery.

Emma's in with Pacific Sam who's a 'repeat offender'. This is the third time he's been in the hospital that Emma knows about, and I remember his second visit from my early days of a wrangling. He's got a skin condition on his shoulder called hyperkeratosis, which is just a thickening of the skin tissue in a certain spot. It looks like he's been scratching at it which is why that suspected he'd been attacked my a dog, but fortunately this was not the case. It reminds me of the fate of poor Morrish Steven, one of the great successes of the uni drug trials. He was cured of his Chlamydia only to be brought in DOA some months later after a dog attack.

According to the daybook, another koala, Chisholm Yalkara, met the same fate. On a positive note, Ocean Flyer who had been brought in after falling from a power pole, has lived to fly another day and was released during the week. Also, sweet little Oxley Kizza, the sweet-faced koala who had reminded me so much of dearly departed Oxley Jo, was released during the week, as was Brindabella Sophie. A suspect growth showed up on Sophie's ultrasound which didn't bode well, but for once we were glad to be wrong--she was given the all-clear by our vet and set on her way.

Oxley Kizza From koalawrangler's gallery

Brindabella Sophie From koalawrangler's gallery.

I start tidying up a bit outside in the yard as Judy goes in to give Kempsey her medication. Judy has looked after a few joeys in her time and I lament to her the dearth of joeys in the place. Of course, it's really a good thing that joeys are being cared for by their mothers and not needing to come into our care, but I still get wistful looking at yard 6 where there have always been joeys since I began wrangling here over six months ago.

Breeding season is almost upon us now, which may mean more joeys coming through. There is a koala called Roto Abigail who lives in the grounds outside the hospital. Abigail has a joey who's big enough to ride on her back. Apparently, on Friday, several of the vollies were in thrall to the antics of a wild male pursuing Abigail over the treetops. It's situations like this where joeys can get separated from their mother. The vollies were holding out towels ready to catch either mother or joey should she fall, but fortunately this didn't happen as Abigail managed to evade her marsupial lothario.

Click here and here to view more of this week's koala hospital snaps.

Joey news

Smudge
From koalawrangler's gallery.

The departure of our star attraction, Anna Bay Sooty and her little "Smudge", has left an gap in the joey department here at the koala hospital. Of course, we still have the beautiful Ocean Kim in residence. Kimmy has spent most of her young life at the hospital, since her Mum was hit by a car when she was still a pouch-borne joey. Once Kimmy has put on enough weight she will be released. In the meantime, she is always eager for fresh leaf, and will often scamper down to the gunyah and wait for its arrival.

Ocean Kim
From koalawrangler's gallery.

She shares yard 6 with a much more reclusive joey, Lake Christmas, who barely ever makes it to planet earth. He was a bit older than Kimmy when she came in, so she had more wildness in her. She was happier in the higher branches and tended not to sit waiting for her tucker.

Lake Christmas
From koalawrangler's gallery.

So when Kimmy bolted down to the gunyah the other day, I was busy chatting away to her, saying Kimmy-this, Kimmy-that, when I realised that she didn't have that telltale single white eyebrow poking out over her right eye (which gives her a slightly mad look). All the while I thought I was talking to Kimmy, I was actually in the presence of the Yeti-like Lake Christmas!

We've got a koala mum, Bellangry Niky, and her joey currently recuperating in homecare with Joyce, the experienced carer who tended to Ocean Kim's Mum, Ocean Therese when she first came to us.

We also have a tiny joey called Tinkerbell who, at 145 grams, was malnourished when she came to us and is getting round-the-clock TLC from another of our expert homecarers.

Anna Bay Lilly Billy
From koalawrangler's gallery.

There have been some fascinating developments on the Anna Bay Lil front, a joey brought in during the week. When admitted, s/he was initially labelled female but her genitals were ambiguous; s/he appeared to have underdeveloped testes, so more tests were made to identify this little koala's biological sex. The results have now confirmed that Lil is intersex, that is, s/he presents both male and female sexual characteristics, a condition that occurs infrequently in both animals and human beings. So Anna Bay Lil is now Anna Bay Lilly Billy and has moved from ICU to take pride of place in sunsoaked yard 9a.

It was hoped that we would be able to keep Anna Bay Lilly Billy here at the hospital. Intersex koalas have seldom been documented, so it would have added greatly to our koala knowledge to be able to monitor her/his progress as Lilly Billy matures and develops. It would also be fascinating to witness his/her behaviour with male and female koalas. However, the powers that be have decided that s/he is to be released back into the wild, despite his/her inability to breed.

Furry golfers find their way home

Ocean Woody
From koalawrangler's gallery.

I mentioned in a previous post that we have been awash with Ocean koalas (geddit?), that is koalas admitted who were found near Ocean Drive, the highway that connects Port Macquarie and Bonny Hills, Lake Cathie and beyond. It zips along at 80km/h, not a very koala-friendly speed, hence the relatively many koalas we get at the hospital who receive the "Ocean" moniker. In the last week or so, we've had Ocean Woody, Ocean Joseph, Ocean Jane and Ocean Golfer in through our doors. Ocean Joseph and Ocean Woody have since been released...not to the highway, of course, but to a nearby safe zone. Hospital staff usually divine a good spot that's not far from where the koala was found, but far enough from trouble, where there's plenty of good koala food and company (for when mating season rolls around again).


Ocean Jane
From koalawrangler's gallery.
There's lots of good release/transfer news today. There were several koalas in ICU that have all been released or transferred to the outside yards. Hamlyn Jack is in yard 1, Ocean Jane is in yard 2 and Jonas Absalom Blinky (phew!) is in yard 3. Livingstone Clover continues to be a little ornery in yard 4 and it's the usual crowd in the joey yard and yard 9. Wiruna Lucky has been bumped back into yard 9 to make way for Anna Bay Lilly Billy in yard 9a. Lucky has pretty much "assumed the position", taking up the exact bit of gunyah that always seemed to favour when she was in yard 9 before.


Ocean Joseph
From koalawrangler's gallery.
I forgot to report earlier that Candelo Cool flew the coop (in a good way) a few weeks ago. Anna Bay Sooty and baby Smudge are back in Anna Bay. Sadly, Sandhill Col, was euthanased. I'm not really surprised--he wasn't an old koala but he looked so haggard and debilitated that sending him to that eucalyptus in the sky was a blessing.

Hamlyn Jack's messy unit From koalawrangler's gallery.

Hamlyn Jack outdoors From koalawrangler's gallery.

I'm in yard 1 and 2 today, looking after their newest occupants, Hamlyn Jack and Ocean Jane. Jack seems much more sedate out here. He'd done a bit of a "Morrish Steven" on his indoor unit, trashing the place like a rockstar, so it's good to see him snoozy and calm.

Ocean Jane
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Ocean Jane, on the other hand, is racing around her yard like she's on wheels. It's a far cry from the timid little lamb I fed the other day after she first came in. Right now, she's returned to the gunyah to scurry back and forth like it's a balancing beam. She hasn't been fed yet, so I finish up with Jack and head in there to feed her.

It needs to be taken slow since she's incurred some damage to her palate and has difficulty swallowing. I basically give the syringe a little squeeze, let her lap that up, and give it another little squeeze. It's very slow, but it's a pace that seems to work for her, as she's interested in food but makes a little choking sound if she swallows too much. She manages about two thirds of the pot before she curls up and settles into sleep.

Meanwhile, Amanda asks me if I'll come with her on a release. In fact, not one release, but two! Jonas Absalom Blinky in yard 3 and Ocean Golfer over in yard 10 are the two lucky chappies. Both are to be released to local golf courses where there are plenty of koala food trees and other koalas.

I ask Paul to finish up Jane's unit and I head off in Amanda's car. There are two covered baskets in the back and, being boys, the gamey scent they're excreting is as concetrated as an essential oil. Poo-ey! No wonder Jane was going a bit feral surrounded by three gamey males (Clover, Jack and Blinky).


Jonas Absalom Blinky
From koalawrangler's gallery.
I've got the map and we head for the first golf course. There are yards of rolling turf with golfers tugging their bags and chatting amiably among themselves. The helpful chappy in the clubhouse points us towards a little bridge with a shed on the other side of it. There is a cluster of trees there that look like Melaleuca, a leaf that koalas like. We drive down there and pick out a good tree for our first release-ee, Jonas Absalom Blinky.

Ocean Golfer
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Blink is about all he does when we first open his basket. He just sits there and looks around, as though trying to process how he's found himself in this vast open green space. There are several good trees for Blinky to choose from and he tries all of them out. He climbs up one, then down again, climbs another, then down and then back to the original one which he rejects again before comically bounding off to a sheltered clutch of trees and takes off up a...fir tree! Wrong! Fir trees are NOT koala food trees, but fortunately there's a nicholii adjacent to it that he can spring to after we leave.

Ocean Golfer in his new tree
From koalawrangler's gallery.

We continue on to the next golf course, home to Ocean Golfer. We follow a golf cart out to the far reaches of the course. The guys there know just the right spot for our koala, a sweet little junction of the 16th, 17th and 18th holes where there's a group of nice-looking tallowwood. Ocean Golfer knows just what to do and scurries up a tree with several finger-like branches. The golfing staff helping us comment on how much better his bottom looks. Golfer's fur is still a telltale orange-brown; it takes time for wet-bottom discoloration to grow out. They tell us that there are a few koalas around here, so that bodes well for Golfer to go forth and bring some more little caddies into the world.

Click here to view more of today's koala hospital snaps.