I’m one of 120 volunteers who help to care for sick and injured koalas at the Koala Hospital Port Macquarie, NSW Australia. I’m not a vet, scientist, or animal specialist — just someone who can’t imagine Australia without koalas in it. You can help us help koalas by Adopting a Wild Koala!
Strictly speaking, Possy wasn't really in the hospital's care, but rather in Cheyne's, the hospital supervisor. Cheyne fed Possy around the clock at home and brought him into the koala hospital every day on her motorbike, tucked safely into her leather jacket. Possy spent the day in the humidicrib which is usually reserved for pinkies (unfurred koalas). Possy was snug as a bug in a rug, enveloped in a nest of knitted pouches, all the colours of the rainbow.
Cheyne fed Possy with a marsupial supplement every few hours - much the same routine as with a young koala joey. The syringe was almost too big for little Possy who would eagerly gulp at the drops of formula.
Ten weeks' later, and Possy Possum is showing all the signs of developing into a healthy young sugar glider.
He weighed in at the grand amount of 52 grams, and he is developing the telltale webbing through his arms that will allow him to glide from branch to branch.
Possum Cam!
Click here to see more photos of possum patients recovering at the Koala Hospital, Port Macquarie.
When last we left little Noah, he was extending his stay in Port Macquarie by a few more weeks. His weight was a bit lower than we'd have liked, and we wanted to be sure young Noah would have everything in his favour before we released him back into the world.
By the beginning of May, Noah was ready for his big trip back to his home range down near Port Stephens, over two and half hours away from the Koala Hospital.
Apparently, Noah enjoyed his road trip home. He munched on nicholii and red iron bark leaf all the way, and never once whined, "are we there yet?"
On arrival, Noah took off up his chosen tree, a Eucalyptus robusta, or good ol' swamp mahogany, as we koalawranglers call it, a koala favourite. Having spent over six months in the same tree (in our joey yard), Noah naturally took a moment or two to orient himself before scooting to the top of the tree and digging in to the fresh leaf.
I'm told that it was dusk by the time his carers from the Native Animal Trust Fund left Noah happily chewing away. Although it's a bit cooler down there than in Port Macquarie, they resisted giving him a blankie...he's got plenty of koala fur to keep him warm :)
Click here to see more photos of One Mile Beach Noah.
Little Noah has been "on loan" to us from our friends at Native Animal Trust Fund for the last few months. He is an orphan, like our other joeys, and has been sharing a yard with three girls until he grows big enough to be returned to his home range down south. You can read more about Noah here.
There's been a note on the board for the last week or so that we should attempt to "capture" Noah if he should come down during our shifts as he is just about due for his return home. Since the joeys have a tree in their yard, they keep their own schedule, coming down for leaf when it suits them, often in the middle of the night. Noah generally "assumes the position" in the lowest crook of the tree and doesn't budge.
The other girl joeys tend to manoeuvre around the tree to avoid him as he gets a touch grumpy if his sleep is disturbed (even though he's sleeping in a major thoroughfare!). We call him "No Way Noah", cos there's no way any other joey is getting past him without some fierce words. You can read about one such altercation here.
Today, Noah is in the treatment room being de-ticked. He's being collected tomorrow to return home to One Mile Beach.
A total of nine ticks have been plucked off Noah so far (see below). Tick infestations can lead to anaemia in koalas, especially young ones who don't carry the body weight of adult koalas. Despite the good job Cheyne and Amanda are doing, Noah is grizzling as they gently search his fur. After they're satisfied he's clean, he sits on the table, happy as Larry, just looking around with a dopey expression on his face. "Shouldn't I be sleeping?", he's probably wondering.
Cheyne has jumped on the phone to Noah's original carers. It seems that Noah has lost some weight since his last weigh-in, which could be to do with his tick burden. Cheyne and NATF agree that Noah's release should be delayed for a few weeks until Noah beefs up a bit.
Here's a video of Noah just kicking back on the treatment table following his tick search:
He's going to spend a night in ICU to make it easy for the staff to check him for ticks tomorrow. Then he'll be back in his usual spot in yard 6, pending release once around Anzac Day.
It was something of a comedy of errors transferring Noah into a unit for the night. As joeys usually do, he kept swinging his little legs in an effort to free himself from Amanda's grasp:
(Warning: the following video contains mild coarse language).
Click here to see more photos of One Mile Beach Noah.
Yes, I've managed to accrue my 15 minutes of fame by sharing the cover of the local phone directory with one of our lovely rescued koalas.
The lovely people at Local Directories were given thousands of koala photos to choose from and, for some reason, they decided on one featuring yours truly!
I will be signing copies of the directory in your local Westfield soon! (Not).
Actually, it's great publicity for the Koala Hospita1, so we're all thrilled. It's just lucky I'm not on the run from the law or else my cover would really be blown now.
Granite Murray is still in ICU and receiving treatment as part of the Sydney uni trials. It's all in the name of curing chlamydia. He seems happy to receive his 100ml of formula and takes it without a bit of fuss. Below you can see my five-step feeding-bagging method for Granite Murray:
