Goodbye Macquarie Peter!

In the fork of the branch where he perpetually sat, I see that he has left me a little present: three little pellets of koala poop nestle there. I'm momentarily taken back to easter egg hunts as a child...

Warrego Martin
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Today I'm allocated to yard 10 with Barb and a friend called Colleen she's training up. There seem to be quite a few people on today: Geoff, Peter, Mary, Anne, Judy, Barb, Danae and now Colleen. But there are about 30 koalas in the hospital at the moment, so we need every pair of hands.

We set out via the leaf shed to collect the leaf cutters although the leaf gatherer's nowhere to be seen yet. All the koalas look a bit soggy after last night's rain. They're fur is wet and stringy in places instead of the usual all-over fluffiness. Ocean Therese and Tractive Golfer are up their respective trees; the koalas that encircle yard 10 are waking up with the promise of fresh leaf.

Barb and Colleen start on Therese's yard, completely stripping her pots of leaf since she is at the highest point of her tree. I start down at Links Lorna's yard. Predictably she eeps when I enter, although I give her plenty of space. I rake up her poop, refill her water and clean out one pot of leaf and water. I stay away from her where possible; I don't want to upset her any more than my mere presence here already does.

Tozer Tom
From koalawrangler's gallery.

I do the same for Tozer Tom, Warrego Martin, Macquarie Peter and Oxley Jo. Tozer Tom is awake and enjoying some of yesterday's leaf. Although I'm standing right in front of him taking photos, he's munching away like I don't even exist: he's gone to the leaf zone.

Warrego Martin starts climbing up his umbrella. Gunyahs often have a forked branch that bisects the horizontal beam vertically; it's another place for the koala to climb up and down from the ground, and they like to sit wedged in the fork. The vertical beam on this gunyah is quite high, allowing Martin to climb up to the spokes at the underside of the umbrella. He sits up there in a squatting position looking around the yard. I think he's calculating whether he can leap across to the tree beside him; it's covered in a metal casing to about the height of the umbrella to prevent his climbing it.

Today's leaf man gives the all-clear that we can start taking the leaf he's laid out in bundles. Barb and Colleen stock up Ocean Therese and Oxley Jo. When they moved Jo into this yard, she gave Barb quite a scratching; but now she lets Barb chuck her under the chin like they are old friends.

Barb & Oxley Jo making up
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Martin might be up, but Therese is making her way down for breakfast. Barb and Colleen feed her and then, since the fresh leaf isn't ready, they take her off to ICU to be weighed. There's talk of Therese being relocated to a wildlife park in Gosford. They want her work on strengthening her leg muscles for climbing; they were damaged in the motor vehicle accident that brought her to the hospital with her joey, Ocean Kim. There's also suspected brain damage, which is why they don't want to return her to the wild: it's unlikely she would survive there.

She's such a complacent koala; I suggest to Barb she could probably carry Therese out to the treatment room in her arms. Understandably though Barb doesn't want to risk it after the slice-and-dice affair with Oxley Jo last weekend. When they return however, that's just where Therese is: snuggled in Barb's arms like an overgrown joey.

Ocean Therese From koalawrangler's gallery.

Ocean Therese with Barb From koalawrangler's gallery.

Barb tells me that Orr Palmerston, one of Sunday's admissions, was released yesterday. Cattlebrook John, the koala brought in with lethargy, is being released soon. Barb's theory is that he was probably hit by a car and his lethargy was due to shock. At first, Barb wasn't hopeful for him, but he appears to have bounced back greatly and will be released today.

I also learn that Macquarie Peter is being set free! It's a bittersweet feeling; I'm glad he's well enough to leave us. A majestic koala like Peter deserves to be climbing trees out in the bush, not stuck on a forked branch on a makeshift gunyah. Naturally, I will miss him though: he was the first koala I "bagged" and brought from ICU to the aviaries and then cared for him out here in the yards. After I finish replenishing the other yards with leaf, I do a final clean out of his yard. His water bowl is emptied, scrubbed and turned upright atop a pot-holder. The remaining leaf is thrown out and those pots scrubbed and reversed too. In the fork of the branch where he perpetually sat, I see that he has left me a little present: three little pellets of koala poop nestle there. I'm momentarily taken back to easter egg hunts as a child...

Andrea comes out to give the koalas their medication. I ask her about Oxley Jo whose wet bottom still looks quite 'angry' to me. Andrea says it would be better for her to be in an inside unit where they could keep a better watch on her, but given the space restraints, she needs to be out here. She's responding okay. There's a misconception that she's not eating much leaf; she's only a small koala and therefore isn't going to be putting away the eucalyptus of an 8kg male.

I tell her about how changeable Ellenborough Nancy was when I tended to her last week. On Thursday, she was at my throat; on Friday, she sat meekly on her gunyah without a peep. Andrea said her behaviour can be dicated by her oestrous cycle, basically the koala time of the month. How interesting koalas are!

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

Setting a koala trap

Just then Barb announces that three new koalas are being brought in: one motor vehicle accident and two wet bottoms. She asks me to set up three new units in ICU, which fills ICU to capacity.

Koala trap
From koalawrangler's gallery.

It's the Sunday shift and I'm assiged the aviaries...that is until Peter realises I've done the aviaries two shifts running and might just be suffering aviary burnout. He gives me yard 10 instead. I head off there and am shortly joined by Beatrice, a volunteer I haven't met before. I recognise her name though. She's the one who witnessed the Bellevue Bill making his way into Links Lorna's boudoir one evening. Bill, by the way, had been re-released to a smaller yard in yard 10. He promptly knocked over his umbrella, scaled the wall and headed north up the nearest tree in the main part of yard 10. Currently, he and Tractive Golfer are up adjacent trees. The umbrellas are designed for shelter, but some koalas have other plans for them. It's a matter of determining which koalas will use them for the former and which for the latter.

Beatrice and I carry on in yard 10. We had to wait until one of the vets came to check the leaf and poop and take poop samples, so we start on the non-research koalas: Ocean Therese and Tractive Golfer. Both are high up their respective trees so neither can be fed yet. I'm sorting out Golfer's recycle and Beatrice is on Therese's leaf. We split the remaining sub-yards between us: I've got Macquarie Peter and Warrego Martin, my two favourite boys; while Beatrice has Links Lorna and Tozer Tom. We finish here quickly, which is good, since Beatrice has to go out on a rescue. One of the smaller yards in yard 10 has to be set up for Oxley Jo to move into; Jim says he'll look after that.

Warrego Martin
From koalawrangler's gallery.

I head into ICU where Ian is still working on the time-consuming wet-bottom side. I see that Oxley Westi's unit still needs to be cleaned so I set about doing that. Just then Barb announces that three new koalas are being brought in: one motor vehicle accident and two wet bottoms. She asks me to set up three new units in ICU, which fills ICU to capacity.

There is already a koala in the ICU treatment room, sealed in a rescue basket. I get moving cutting new leaf, filling water bowls and dirt containers, laying newspaper. They bring in the motor vehicle accident victim, Melaleuca Alfie. He is an amazingly calm koala. He sits on the treatment table without a bag or any kind of restraint, sipping the fluid Peter syringes into his mouth. When I enter the room to take a photo, he turns his head and follows me with his eyes. What an adorable, trusting fellow. It turns that his genitals were injured in the car accident. He may have trouble urinating.

Melaleuca Alfie
From koalawrangler's gallery.

I'm finishing the new units when I see another koala in the treatment room. This one is named Cattlebrook John. He was found sitting on the ground, listless and unmoving. It's not certain what has caused his lethargy. He's still nestled in his rescue basket, sort of lounging back into it. When Andrea tries to examine him closer, he ducks out from under her. He doesn't want to move but he doesn't want to be touched either. When they put him in his unit, the leaf pots are moved to the floor and he stays in the basket.

I run into Lorna in the dayroom. She hands me my name badge which was on order and has now arrived. Now I'm official and the koalas will be able to call me by name :)

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

Innes Wonga

Kempsey is perched out in the middle of her gunyah looking rather exposed without any leaf around her. The recycled pot is down one end and she's sitting in the middle of the beam like a fuzzy, squat tightrope walker.

Innes Wonga
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Peter asked me to come in today, Sunday. I haven't worked Sunday mornings before and I find it has a different vibe to other days. Since I've become a 'regular' (one of the koalarati, perhaps?), I find myself getting things done in record time (assuming I don't have ticks to mark up, which involves lots of doubletracking to and from the dayroom).

Cheryle, who I met at koala rescue training, is allocated to yard 9; Emma whose koala pics I discovered on Flickr is working in the ICU.

There's a guy called Ian doing Kempsey Carolina and the joeys. I've got Innes Wonga and Henry (who's way up his tree). I haven't fed Wonga before, he's the fellow with the arthritic left knee. Anne identifies with Wonga's ailment; she's got an arthritic left knee too.

Wonga must be enjoying her food because they're is a TONNE of poop around her gunyah. I recall Ros having trouble feeding him the other day, but today he drinks it all up like a good little bear. I rake and scoop poop in Wonga's and Henry's yards and make up a new recycled pot from their previous day's leaf. I check in to see how joeys are faring -- they're up in the tree but on adjacent branches so perhaps they've made up after their spat on Friday.

Macquarie Peter From koalawrangler's gallery.

Macquarie Peter From koalawrangler's gallery.

I suggest to Peter that I might go and help Jim in yard 10; it's got six koalas now which is too much for one person. Jim welcomes the help. He says when he arrived the koalas seemed sleepy, like they'd had a big night. I notice they've all got big outdoor umbrellas over their gunyahs to give them additional shelter. They koalas all look damp as it rained heavily in the night and the umbrellas aren't waterproof. They all appear to have woken up now, except Links Lorna who's burrowed into her leaf. Warrego Martin and Macquarie Peter are quite frisky, jumping off their gunyahs and prowling around the perimeters of their yards.

Chris arrives with the leaf so I go to prepare Wonga and Henry's bundles. There's always a rush for the good cutters -- I prefer the smaller ones with the orange handles as they're easier to wield. I'm becoming a dab hand at leaf cutting now.

Once I've finished with Wonga and Henry I notice that Poor Kempsey is perched out in the middle of her gunyah looking rather exposed without any leaf around her. The recycled pot is down one end and she's sitting in the middle of the beam like a fuzzy, squat tightrope walker. I generally try to leave the pot closest to the koala intact so as to disrupt them as little as possible. So, I decide to replenish Kempsey's leaf and then go back to yard 10 to help Jim. I fix Therese's leaf and then head into ICU. There are three types of leaf today; Chris is going back to get a fourth. The koalas need a bit of choice as this is the usual way they feed -- seeking out different types of desirable leaf.

Innes Tony
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Chris's second leaf trip is delayed when Chris and Ellen are dispatched on a rescue go out on rescue. When they return, they've brought a big male in a bag. He was found at the corner of Major Innes and Ruins Way. They call him Innes Tony. He barks.

I talk to Barb who's in the treatment room. Her little Steffi has now developed massive bruising on her entire front, no doubt from her fall. Judy tells me about her little joey, Cathie John, who has wet bottom, which is rare in joeys. The vet says he might have contracted it from the mother's pap, which is unusual.

We talk about koala intelligence and agree that they are intelligent about the things they need to be. Unfortunately, koalas don't see dogs as a threat. That must be why they accept us humans around them. It takes a lot for them to lash out.

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

Ocean Therese and Tractive Golfer

Warrego Martin climbs back up his gunyah to the highest point and looks longingly at the tree in his yard, which is covered to prevent climbing (and hence escaping). I've seen this look before -- it's the closest a koala gets to an expression of calculation.

Tractive Golfer
From koalawrangler's gallery.

It was nice to see Amanda today. I missed my shift last Thursday and she was away for the previous two weeks, so it has been a while since I've koala'd under her tutelage. There are two new faces -- one male, one female: Jarrod and Erin. Amanda puts me on yard 10 with Yasmin.

Yard 10 is a delight compared to the cramped confines of the aviaries. That yard only used to house Tractive Golfer, who had free run of the place, until they subdivided the space along the edge of the yard into separate smaller yards -- about five or six of them. There's also a separate circular yard within yard 10 which tends to be the climber-rehab yard. It's where Treetop Boxer resided briefly before his release. It has its own tree which is not covered in a metal casing to prevent climbing, as many of them are. Rather, they've put Ocean Therese in there to encourage her to use her climbing muscles. In yard 9 she spent most of the day lounging around under a shade on her gunyah.

I clear out her water bowl and notice a large pellet-shaped object floating in it. I confer with Yasmin and we agree that it's a tick. I take it inside and Amanda tells me, no, it's only a swollen piece of poop -- get rid of it! I guess I'll have to work on honing my razor-sharp tick identification skills...

I return to yard 10 where I'm scheduled to feed Ocean Therese, but she's half way up her tree. Yasmin suggests I rattle the lid so she knows there's food. Once she knows formula's in the offing she starts to back her way down, her white rounded bottom bobbing all the way.


Ocean Therese
From koalawrangler's gallery.
By the time I let myself into her yard, she's actually climbed all the way from the tree to the gunyah to the ground. I crouch down over her and start to syringe the food in. Once again, I'm touched by having this fuzzy little face upturned towards me, a brown warmth in her eyes in the soft morning light. I haven't been so close to Therese before and I can immediately see her baby's resemblance to her. Ocean Kim was thrown from Ocean Therese when she was hit by a car on Ocean Drive. For some reason, koala mothers cease to recognise their young if they become separated. So Kim and Therese have been at the hospital in side-by-side yards without knowing (or caring) that the other is there :(

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Ocean Therese
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Yasmin and I were discussing this when I remark that they seem to put the joeys together for company, like a little orphanage. Apparently, after Ocean Kim was put in with Links VTR and Burraneer Henry, the doe-eyed Henry became a bit of a bully-boy. He would plant himself at a lower tree branch and refuse to let Kimmy come down for fresh leaf! So Links and Kim were put in yard 9A (where Links is undergoing his own climbing-training) and Henry was packed off to yard 4 on his own.


After feeding, Therese wanders off towards her gunyah, but shows no interest in climbing it. She plonked herself on the muddy ground with her legs stuck straight out in front of her and just hung onto the gunyah beam that reached the ground.

"She's probably hot", suggests Yasmin.

Or a bit loopy. It's possible that she may have suffered brain damage as a result of the car accident.

The smaller yards in yard 10 house Macquarie Peter, Warrego Martin, Tozer Tom and Links Lorna. I'm pleased to see Martin and Tom outside after their long weeks inside in ICU. Martin was still inside last week so he continues to explore his yard today. He's a bit timid when I go in, which is strange considering I was much closer to him (by necessity) in the units. He keeps jumping off his gunyah and wandering around the perimeter looking for a way out. Then he climbs back up his gunyah to the highest point and looks longingly at the tree in his yard, which is covered to prevent climbing (and hence escaping). I've seen this look before -- it's the closest a koala gets to an expression of calculation.

The leaf-gatherer's still preparing the bundles so all was can do is get the yards prepped for the leaf. The smaller yards are covered in dried leaf and palm fronds so there's little point in raking them much. I go through and replenish the water bowls and empty out one of the two leaf pots, scrubbing it and filling it with fresh water. Yasmin takes a pot from eepy Lorna who predictably eeps at her in protest.

Amanda and Ross come into the yard. Ross's job has fallen through so he's back on Thursday shift. I don't think anyone wants to leave this place. Yasmin starts a Bachelor of Business on Monday at the local campus of Newcastle Uni. I commiserate with her, there's no money in koalas. She wisely responds that you don't do koala work for the money, but for the love of it.

Ross and Amanda are looking for Tractive Golfer. I mention that I saw Golfer the other day sleeping on his gunyah with his bottom poked out, resting on the beam. She tells me that the way he sits is actually due to scoliosis. I've never seen him up close before. Ross spots him in a tree in the far corner. His face is resting in the crook of the branches, framing it. He'll come down sooner or later when he wants to be fed.

Beautiful Macquarie Peter whom I'd helped Amanda bag in ICU weeks ago, and then looked after in the cramped aviaries, is king of all he surveys out in the yards. He has a gentleness about him, despite his size. Today he adopts a ladies-come-and-get-me stance.

Macquarie Peter
From koalawrangler's gallery.

The leaf is ready and I start preparing Peter's batch. Yasmin is preparing Golfer's. Suddenly we look around and there's Golfer himself crouched by the leaf rack. I've already separated Peter's leaf bundles and doused them in water. They're dripping invitingly from the rack. Golfer reaches up and starts to tuck in. No, you don't, says Yasmin. She tries to distract him with formula. Once he's finished that, I pick up Peter's leaf and Golfer takes off after me. Gimme that leaf! Yasmin grabs a branch and coaxes him towards his own gunyah where there is plenty of leaf. The way she's swinging the branch about, it's like watching her enact an arcane indigenous koala-luring custom. It works -- he follows the wet leaf like the proverbial carrot and the donkey.


Tractive Golfer & Yasmin
From koalawrangler's gallery.
We finish cutting up the leaf for Warrego Martin, Tozer Tom and Links Lorna, then clean up the loose leaf from the yard. I check with Jackie in ICU to see if she needs help. They're almost done in there -- two of the units are empty -- so I go to join the team for a cup of green tea.

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

Koalawrangler training academy

You can actually use your own body weight to pin the koala against the tree/fence. You use press down on its forehead to stop it climbing and call for assistance. This produces a fanciful picture in my head as I imagine myself discovered in some unlawful position, a frightened koala wedged between myself and a tree...

Birthday Girl & friend
From koalawrangler's gallery.
Today Cheyne held a koala handling and rescue training workshop using both real and toy koalas. Can you tell the difference?

A bunch of us koala-wrangling novices signed up and we got to learn the best way to pick up a koala -- both in day-to-day handling and rescue situations. (I can't say that I ever expected my life to contain the potential for "day-to-day koala handling", but there you have it).

We all sat around the day-room table -- there are a few familiar faces such as Yasmin from Thursdays and Jules the tour guide, as well as about 10 others I haven't met before. I guess these must be the volunteers for the other days. It's hard to imagine this place with others doing the job you do on your own shift -- you maintain the illusion that the place goes into suspended animation when you're gone. It's also hard to imagine others tending to the koalas you've been looking after. The connection feels so intimate, probably because we translate the koalas' natural passivity into trust and affection. I know I feel it and I've noticed how ardently some of the long-term koala volunteers express the relationship they perceive between themselves and a particular koala. Some of these people have been tending to the koalas for years and the result is often a fierce if one-sided bond. I overhear that Oxley Griffin and Pacific Sam have both been released since I was last here. My immediate reaction is: I shared something with these little critters and now they're gone.

Someone brandishes a copy of the Port Macquarie News. They had printed an article about little Cloud, the tiny grey koala who was badly burnt in the 1994 bush fires but lived in the koala hospital for the next 13 years. She was euthanased on Saturday. Another woman who I think was the team-leader for the afternoon shift said, "well, I can't read that now or I'll cry. There's been a lot of tears shed over this koala and no-one deserves to cry about it more than me. I was closer to Cloud than anyone". She pushed the article aside and returns her eyes to the day-book. It's an urgent affection I've also found myself feeling after only a few short weeks, so I can understand something of her sentiment.

Cheyne bustles into the room in her usual blue v-neck hospital blouse and shorts. She's laid two large koala-rescue poles on the floor and assembled a koala-rescue kit for us to see. Before the session starts, Cheyne tells us that if any of us are interested in fire-ground work then we should tell her at the end. By fire-ground she means searching areas where fires have come through for surviving koalas. I don't know if I could do it -- I read about the demise of Perch Miracle on the Hospital website, a koala who was literally heat-sealed to her tree. Still she was rescued and survived for some years before she died unexpectedly. Cheyne warns us that it is dangerous work -- you need to undertake fire awareness training offered by the state before you are allowed onto the fire-ground site.

But today we are to begin simply with how to approach a koala with the intention of picking it up. I'm delighted when she refers to the skills involved as a sort of "koala whispering". We consult the handout she has provided, entitled Basic Koala Handling. The priority is to ensure no injuries are sustained by the handler -- if the handler is okay, there is a better chance that the koala will be okay.

We talk about how to read koala body language. If you get bitten or scratched by the koala, you're probably doing something wrong. There is a lengthy list of signs to look for that carry meanings that can be deciphered by the koala-whisperer-trained eye: ear-flicking (which I first experienced with Tozer Tom back on my first day) can mean pain or irritation. Eye-popping is also a sign of fear, which they often see in koalas on the treatment table. Some signs are more ambiguous; a very quiet koala can mean it is very ill or just good-tempered.

Cheyne raises the interesting point of anthropomorphism, essentially ascribing an animal with human characteristics or projecting human feelings onto them. For example, a koala might extend its face towards its handler in a Kiwi greeting fashion. This is a gesture seeking smell recognition, not affection! Equally, when a contented koala reaches its arms towards you, it is not for a hug; it's in order to get more formula or leaf. Cheyne's intention appears to be to shatter our fragile illusions about the bond we imagine we have with the koalas. According to Cheyne, we are simply "walking formula/leaf" to the koalas. We all joke that of course we knew that, but secretly harbour our own convictions that, "no, they really love me! My relationship with them is special!"

She also shatters another illusion: koalas aren't too bright as a species. They are simply not very intelligent; they have a basic plan. I wait for her to say "eats, shoots and leaves". Geoff offers "eats, sleeps and makes nuggets (poop)" instead. Cheyne tells us that the koala brain is not very convoluted, but is instead fairly smooth. Its spheres are also quite separate. The wombat, the koala's closing relative, is actually smarter. Cheyne hastens to add that "more advanced" doesn't mean better: just look at humans and how well we've screwed things up for ourselves.

So we've got to think like koalas and not like humans, whatever that means. Some koalas are just "fruitcakes"; that is, wild and unpredictable in human terms, but the way koalas should be. These are generally the koalas that have had very little to do with humans, like those from the Ellenborough region. The local koalas are used to people, which is not really a good thing. So fruitcake = good, unless you're trying to rescue one.

Cheyne & Wiruna Lucky
From koalawrangler's gallery.

We go outside with the equipment and into yard 9 where the permanent girls are. We're not going to each be able to pick up a koala today -- "the poor thing'll be worn out", says Cheyne. But she gives us a demonstration on one of the girls. The first thing is to give the koala some warning of your intentions by speaking softly and gently running your hand up the koala's back. This seems counter-intuitive to me; my experience with our cat is to do everything quickly before she has a chance to scratch/bite, like wait till she's asleep before sneaking up on her and stuffing her quickly in the catbox. But this is not how koalas are made. They're not braced to attack, but can be unpredictable especially after undergoing a trauma.

Jules the guide wants to know how to get a koala to release its "Arnold Schwarzenegger grip" on the gunyah/tree. Because their claws are not retractable, it's difficult to lift them off -- but, to return to the cat analogy, it's not like they're gripping to resist you, they simply can't release their claws if you're pulling against them. The key is to slip your fingers under their wrists and push their forearm forward to release their claws. Cheyne demonstrates on Wiruna Lucky, one of the placid gang-of-four girls in yard 9. She looks slightly piqued, but submits. Cheyne also demonstrates how to stop a koala from advancing: simply press its forehead gently. The same technique is used to stop a koala climbing up a tree.

Cheyne & Wiruna Lucky
From koalawrangler's gallery.

The handout talks about three types of koalas: quiet, bitey, and frightened. I can't help but think of cheese when I read "bitey", as in Bega Strong & Bitey vintage cheddar. The "quiet" koalas need less precautionary measures than bitey or frightened koalas. Even if you are aware of all the signs to read that indicate fear or irritation, Cheyne says that a koala may look placid enough but could have cortisol (a stress hormone) coursing through its body (making it a fruitcake-in-waiting).

Cheyne & Wiruna Lucky
From koalawrangler's gallery.

Most of the koalas we tend in the hospital seem quiet, but then I haven't had to pick one up yet. Where a koala is "bitey", it's recommended that you enjoy it with water crackers and a slice of cabanossi... just kidding! With the bitey ones you let them know you're coming as with the quiet variety, but you place a thick towel around their shoulders and arms and then place your arms under the towel edges to protect yourself from a potential bite as you lift them up. You should try to keep the dangling koala at arm's length and even swing them foward as it may craftily try to swing its legs backwards to grab you with its back claws. Bitey and scratchy! Also, koalas should never be picked up under the arms or around the ribs.

With even more tetchy koalas (the really "frightened" kind), a bag is used. Bagging is the primary means of securing koalas during a rescue. Although, Cheyne suggested that this is often best-case scenario; sometimes a rescuer has to use whatever means is at their disposal at the time. For example, if you suddenly need to stop a koala from escaping a yard -- say one that is scaling a fence, or in a rescue situation when a koala is descending a tree -- you can actually use your own body weight to pin the koala against the tree/fence. You use press down on its forehead to stop it climbing and call for assistance. This produces a fanciful picture in my head as I imagine myself discovered in some unlawful position, a frightened koala wedged between myself and a tree. Cheyne assures us: "It won't hurt them; it's better than letting them escape".

The bag used is made of canvas. Often the handler has to assess the situation to determine the angle of approach. The bag can be place over the head and brought back to the rump or can be slid from the rump up over the head; whatever method gets the koala in the bag with the least amount difficulty and stress for both animal and human is best. Oh, and once the koala is in the bag, it generally pees straight away (which is exactly what Treetop Boxer did when he was first transferred outside, prior to his release). If the koala is being brought into ICU for treatment, it's best to know which 'end' they need. Sometimes it's the bottom for an injection or the top for feeding. Either way, it's best to try to keep the rest of the koala in the bag (it's less stressful for them) and expose only the end requiring jabbing or feeding.

Cheyne & Ocean Therese
From koalawrangler's gallery.

At this point, Ocean Therese decides to wander over to see what was happening (or more likely to see if Cheyne has any formula for her). Cheyne mock-rouses on her then plucks her off the gunyah and proceeds to hold her in such an expert yet cuddlesome way...show-off! :)

Next we look at what's involved in a rescue, when the koala is not right in front of you on the gunyah, but half a kilometre up a tree. We're using a fake koala, so no koalas were hurt or injured in the course of this rescue! The best scenario involves three handlers: two with poles and one with a bag to catch the koala at the other end. We each have a go at holding the pole. It's not enough to just hold it; you have to hold the full weight of it up above your head. "Imagine holding that up for twenty minutes, chasing a koala that's springing from branch to branch", says Cheyne. The healthy koalas are the hardest to catch.

Rescue training
From koalawrangler's gallery.

The pole resembles a paint roller. It has a flat end wrapped in a towel. This is used to press down on the koala's forehead like Cheyne showed us. Of course, that was on a koala immediately in front of us. In the reality of a rescue I can see how it would be like trying to use this huge pole to thread a needle. The two pole-wielders ease the koala down to the bagger at the bottom. But it's a mistake to think that a koala will just back into the bag; it will try to hightail it back up the tree as soon as it can. You need to place the bag over its head and manoeuvre its claws upward to disengage them from the trunk. Sounds so easy. Oh, and make sure you avoid thwacking powerlines with your pole. If the koala is too high, that's when to call in Country Energy to bring over a cherry-picker.

Cheyne also shows us how to 'pack' a koala. They use two washing baskets; one filled with rolled up towels and another for a lid. The koala is nestled into the basket and then covered with the other basket, which is tied on with bike cord. It's also important to cover the basket to prevent the koala from being further distressed. The last thing it needs after it has experienced trauma is staring human faces. This is especially true of joeys and victims of dog attacks or motor vehicle accidents (MVA). These koalas should also be handled a little differently; they should never be held up by the arms since they may have undergone a fracture or internal injuries. It's best to wrap these koalas up in a towel and pack them securely with a rolled up towel at each side. They should also be kept upright to keep their passageways clear in case of lung damage. Another type of koala to be aware of in rescue situations are those that are blind. They may run in circles in a disorientated fashion.

I noticed on the boards inside that all the aviary koala have been moved to the new small subdivisions in yard 10. At least they are outside now, except that this means they are without proper shelter. I go to see how they are faring. At least someone has erected a pot high on the middle vertical branch so that there is some shelter overhead. I'm happy for Macquarie Peter, who I've now seen progress from ICU to an aviary to the yards. The girls are out here too: Ellenborough Kelly and Newport Bridge Gloria. I also check on Elizabeth Noddy who wakes up to greet me.

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