On the koala side of the street

They don't call it Koala Street for nothing...

Ocean Roy
From brokenpuzzle's gallery.

There's a street here in Port Macquarie called "Koala Street". It connects Ocean Drive with Kennedy Drive and is one of the few streets in Port that has a 60km/hr speed limit (rather than the usual 50km/hr).

Despite the street's claim, I've never personally seen a koala in that street, and so until today I thought it was an arbitrary rather than descriptive label. Then, driving up Koala Street this afternoon, I had a closer look at the side streets off the main Koala Street artery and saw the following names loom up at me in quick succession:

* O'Briens Road
* Treetop Crescent
* Tasman Road

The side streets have all contributed names to koalas that have been brought into our care at the hospital; to wit:

* O'Briens Road > O'Briens Fiona
* Treetop Crescent > Treetop Boxer
* Tasman Road > Tasman Rose

The koalas admitted to the hospital are given two names: the first is the name of the street (or town) where they're found; the second is the name of the person who found the koala or contributed to its rescue.

I was reading the Country Energy newletter the other day and it had an article about a rescue rescue they helped out with. Country Energy (CE) brought in their cherry-picker (or elevated work platform, as they call it) to help retrieve a koala from a tree overhanging a busy road and near overhead powerlines. Chris Rowland, from the koala hospital, assisted in the rescue, but the salvaged koala was named after Roy Morgan, a CE employee.


From Country Energy's wildlife page.
"Roy" was rescued from the corner of Ocean Drive and Koala Street so they called him "Ocean Roy"; I guess "Koala Roy" would have been stating the obvious! Anyway, it proves they don't call it's called Koala Street for good reason!

Wednesday

Cheyne is Chief Koalawrangler and you can tell by her confidence handling the koalas. She deftly plonks Tom on his gunyah; nonplussed, Tom tucks straight into his wet leaf and is immediately in the 'zone'.

Ocean Therese
From koalawrangler's gallery.

I've been asked to fill for in Maggie on the Wednesday afternoon shift for the next two weeks. There are a host of people in the day-room when I enter: Cathy, the teamleader; a lady called Joy; Anne from Fridays who's working in the shop; Danae, the French backpacker; and Geoff, who's doing today's 3pm walk-and-talk.

Without much to do before 3pm, I wander through the yard. Burraneer Henry is, as ever, up his tree; this time his arms are dangling down in a comical gesture. Back inside, Cathy is mixing up formula and starts to tell us some koala tales. For instance, wiley O'Briens Fiona escaped AGAIN this morning. She has been moved to yard 9 with the permanent girls, but was found up a tree outside her yard in the main grounds. At least she doesn't go far. Fortunately, they've identified how it is she escaped and so have foiled her plans for the future. There have been other movements too. Cathie Sampson has been moved to Fiona's old spot in yard 3 and Jupiter Cheryl has taken his unit in ICU.


Burraneer Henry
From koalawrangler's gallery.
Three koalas need to be fed in the front yards: Innes Wonga, Kempsey Carolina and Siren Gem, the joey. Gem is snuggled up a tree so I start feeding Kempsey. She wakes up as I pull the stool over and starts to move towards me. A crowd gathers at the fence just as a realise that the syringe is a bit dodgy; I can't exactly vacate my post and seek out another. It's as though the plunger is too small for the cylinder -- it just slips through with no pressure. Kempsey is enough of a dribbler without the syringe dribbling to begin with.

Joy is in yard 9 feeding O'Briens Fiona. It's so strange to see her in the wide expanses of yard 9, and with the old girls. She's seated at the end of gunyah beam, pitching towards Joy. In between drinks, she pokes her tongue in and out, like she's licking the air. Bonny Fire is shambling along a nearby beam; she was up a tree earlier so they haven't mixed formula for her yet. Cathy is watering the kids in yard 9A.

Wiruna Lucky is lounging nakedly on a nearby beam. Joy has moved aside the leaf pots so that the tourists can see; Lucky is completely exposed, but sleepily stretched out on the beam. I start to feed her and she drinks it in without moving. "Don't get up now", I mumble.

Joy is happy to feed Birthday Girl and water in yard 9 so I check on where Danae is at outside. She's watered Wonga and Sampson; I water Henry and Westi. Gem is still up his tree although he stirs; not enough to come down to feed though.

I head round to yard 10 where Danae is trying to work out which is Tractive Golfer and which is Ocean Therese. Surprisingly, both are down on their gunyahs. I suggest that Danae feeds Tom since there's a crowd around the front row. I interrupt Ocean Therese who is eating her leaf. She is happy to take the formula. I'm having no luck with syringes today. The black rubber bit comes off the plunger and embeds inself into the syringe. Danae gives up on feeding Tom who has lost interest in formula and returned to his leaf. Just then Cathy comes into the yard with Warrego Martin in a basket. I open up his yard and she lets him out. He leaps onto the beam and straight up to the highest point of his gunyah. Cathy pops Tom in the basket and takes him off to ICU.

Danae starts feeding Tractive Golfer while I water Oxley Jo then Links Lorna. Bizarrely Lorna is sitting out in the middle of her gunyah and seeminly unbothered by my presence. It's so not like her not to be hiding and eeping weakly into her leaf. Cheyne returns with Tozer Tom swinging between her arms. Cheyne is Chief Koalawrangler and you can tell by her confidence handling the koalas. She deftly plonks Tom on his gunyah; nonplussed, Tom tucks straight into his wet leaf and is immediately in the 'zone'.

Links Lorna From koalawrangler's gallery.

Tozer Tom From koalawrangler's gallery.

I return to the day-room for another syringe to finish feeding Ocean Therese. I look for Cathy and find her in the treatment room with Jo who is taking a photo of a large jar of brownish liquid. Jo gives me a new syringe and chucks the old one in the bin. Back with Therese, she's got a mouthful of leaf, but pauses to finish off the formula.

Danae waters the aviaries while I wash the formula pots. Jo is in the day-room having a late lunch so I take the opportunity to find out about a few of the koalas' conditions. Golf Starr, a koala who was found lethargic and low in a tree, has a poor prognosis as a result of Chlamydia complications. She has paraovarian cysts, thickened bladder and hydro-ureter kidney (ie the ureter has dilated into the kidney). They are waiting on blood results.

We also talk about Oxley Westi who has the exopthalmous eyes in yard 1. Apparently, they don't know what causes it. I comment that they don't seem to have improved, but Jo says that sometimes she pulls them in and sometimes she doesn't. It's an ability some animals have. We also talk about little Ocean Casurina, who I remember feeding some weeks back. Apparently she had a pinky when she was release, so perhaps she's a mother?

There's another admission, Anna Bay Miles, who's been brought in under the auspices of a wildlife trust. I also read in the day-book that there's also a koala called Crestwood Dampier, who I can't see on any of the whiteboards. It turns out she's in home-care with Barb. On a sad note, I see that Treetop Boxer was brought in a few days ago. He was found on the ground with a distended stomach. He was discovered to have cancer and was euthanased! I remember so well my second day when Geoff transferred Boxer to yard 10A before he was released only a few weeks back. At least his pain was put to an end.

Before I go, Cathy shows me and Danae how to prepare a rescue basket. It contains a pillow sealed in a garbage bag, in case they pee. You cover that in two towels and then fold another two towels length-ways so that it lines the edge of the basket cocoon-style. Finally, you insert a rolled-up towel in the centre that mimicks a "tree" for them to hold on to. Aw.

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.