A class of enterprising kindergarten kids in San Diego, California, USA, have raised money doing household chores in order to adopt not one but TWO koalas from the Koala Hospital. You can read about their hard work here.
The koalas these kindy youngsters adopted were:
Links VTR
Linksie came to the Hospital as a tiny 375 gram joey, whose mother had to be euthanased after a motor vehicle accident. Linksie was successfully raised at the Hospital and released to the wild. Click here to adopt Linksie.
Westhaven Barry
Barry is a small male koala who suffers from scoliosis and a bit of a grumpy temper! He is a long-term resident of the Hospital. Click here to adopt Bazza.
Click here to view more koala hospital photos.
Showing posts with label koalas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label koalas. Show all posts
Monday, 6 June 2011
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Dunbogan Dave, just hangin' about
I was strolling around the Hospital grounds the other morning and noticed one of the joeys in the joey yard perched in the bough of a tree.
I decided to go into the yard to check things out and found that it was the handsome Dunbogan Dave! Did you know that you can "adopt" Dave (which helps raise money for the Koala Hospital)?
I wrote briefly about the arrival of Dunbogan Audrey with her joey, Dunbogan Dave. They were admitted to the Koala Hospital back in November 2010. Audrey was particularly run down, with an unhealthy brown coat, and had clearly been struggling to find sufficient nutrition for her and her joey.
Not that you would know that from looking at Dave, who was at least in better condition than his mother - although on closer inspection turned out to be underweight and malnourished. It's often the case that joeys still get the best of care, when Mum is going downhill. However, in this case, they both came into the Hospital in the nick of time.
As Dave was being borne on his mother's back, we were able to separate them in order to focus on bringing them individually back to health. Dave went into home care for round-the-clock feeding and care, while we concentrated on optimising Mum Audrey's nutrition and general health.
In no time, we were able to release Audrey back to the wild - her work raising her joey now complete. As for Dave, he came back into the Hospital to reside temporarily in our joey yard. This is when supplemental feeding stops and the joey is left to eat leaf and climb to their heart's content - generally building up their climbing muscles and acquiring the skills needed to be a koala in the wild.
Some video of Dave:
Adopt Dunbogan Dave now, by clicking here!
Bye Dave!
Click here to view more koala hospital photos.
I decided to go into the yard to check things out and found that it was the handsome Dunbogan Dave! Did you know that you can "adopt" Dave (which helps raise money for the Koala Hospital)?
I wrote briefly about the arrival of Dunbogan Audrey with her joey, Dunbogan Dave. They were admitted to the Koala Hospital back in November 2010. Audrey was particularly run down, with an unhealthy brown coat, and had clearly been struggling to find sufficient nutrition for her and her joey.
Not that you would know that from looking at Dave, who was at least in better condition than his mother - although on closer inspection turned out to be underweight and malnourished. It's often the case that joeys still get the best of care, when Mum is going downhill. However, in this case, they both came into the Hospital in the nick of time.
As Dave was being borne on his mother's back, we were able to separate them in order to focus on bringing them individually back to health. Dave went into home care for round-the-clock feeding and care, while we concentrated on optimising Mum Audrey's nutrition and general health.
In no time, we were able to release Audrey back to the wild - her work raising her joey now complete. As for Dave, he came back into the Hospital to reside temporarily in our joey yard. This is when supplemental feeding stops and the joey is left to eat leaf and climb to their heart's content - generally building up their climbing muscles and acquiring the skills needed to be a koala in the wild.
Some video of Dave:
Adopt Dunbogan Dave now, by clicking here!
Bye Dave!
Click here to view more koala hospital photos.
Saturday, 26 March 2011
A Wild Koala in Hamlyn Drive
This little old guy was holding up 'traffic' on Hamlyn Drive (actually he mostly was the traffic), before I shepherded him towards some trees at the top of the street.
Armidale Clyde
Clyde came to us from the New England town of Armidale, some four hours' drive away from Port Macquarie. He was suffering from the chlamydial eye infection, conjunctivitis.
He gets brought into the treatment room for his eye treatments, followed by a nice feed.
Here is Clyde having a ear-rub before being escorted back to his unit by Peter.
Dunbogan Audrey
This is the beautiful Dunbogan Audrey who was admitted looking a little tawdry in November 2010. She was carrying a joey, called Dunbogan Dave. After some R&R, Audrey was released but Dave is still with us at the Hospital practising his climbing skills and gaining weight ahead of his release.
Friday, 27 August 2010
Poor Coastlands Steve!
My heart really went out to Coastlands Steve today. Firstly, it’s the second time he’s been in that, that I’m aware of. Last time, he was hit by a car and spent considerable time in homecare under the watchful eye of Joyce. Now he's back in the Hospital again. And today, he was a bit out of sorts.
He was missing from his yard when Pete did his morning rounds. At first, he feared Steve had taken off into Macquarie Nature Reserve, but, no, he was much closer at hand. He had travelled from his own yard 1 to yard 3 just across the way.
Yard 3 is home to Amira Ruby, a gorgeous little female koala who delighted us with her placid demeanour and range of delightfully coloured bandages during her time in ICU.
When Pete found Steve in Ruby's yard, Steve was looking a bit sorry for himself. He'd scraped a bit of 'bark' off his nose - possibly from colliding with the colourbond fence during his escape attempt. The fences are positioned at least 2 metres apart, since that is the maximum distance a koala can jump. However, it IS mating season again. I know this for sure as I heard our local wild koala, whom we've dubbed Bonky Bill, letting his mating call ring out through the neighbourhood for the first time this season. Spring is around the corner and so is mating.
Perhaps Steve thought Amira Ruby looked like a bit of alright. Pete suspects that - although she looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth - Ruby probably put up a bit of a fight. So not only did Steve scrape his nose in the process, he also probably got a bit of biffo for his efforts when he got there.
Poor old Steve! No wonder he was looking a little sorry for himself this morning. So I made sure I picked him an EXTRA big fluffy bundle of leaf and decked his gunyah out like it was a Christmas tree.
I got to see loads of other koalas I didn't expect to today. Newport Bridge Gloria has been back in for a while, but as she's been sharing the expanses of yard 9 with Birthday Girl, I've barely seen her down on ground level.
Today, she came down to visit and she looked just like I remembered her. We have a bit of a 'history', you see. I first encountered Gloria during her time on the University of Sydney research trials back in 2007. She made her way through the treatment, but had been in a number of other times since. During one particularly memorable visit, I made the brilliant decision to transfer Gloria from the ground to the gunyah to make it easier for a volunteer to feed her. It all went pear-shaped. She bit me...HARD...luckily connecting with my fingernail, or else she would probably have bit through my finger. And, worse still, I kind of, well, let her drop out of my grasp as the pain was just excruciating! Gloria was fine, she just sort of tumbled free and made her own way up on to the gunyah. Phew!
Today, there were no such dramas fortunately. She looked keen to see me but I'm not deluding myself; it's only because she mistook my camera for a feed pot.
She followed me all over the place, to the point that I was concerned she might leap on me. Fortunately Peter arrived with a basket for transporting koalas. Gloria was to be released this morning! Peter showed he how koala handling was really done by effortlessly plucking Gloria off the gunyah and placing her in the basket.
Gloria has been admitted 8 times already - most recently for motor vehicle accidents; fingers crossed she still has another life left.
Another koala I didn't expect to see today was Oxley Kaylee. Since having her rear left leg amputated, she has been doing marvelously well.
I almost never see her down from her tree. Brooke had cleaned her yard and I set about preparing his leaf. Usually I spray the leaf before placing it in the pots. It's trickier having to juggle a bunch of leaf as you spray it, but it's preferable to showering the koala! In Kaylee's case, she was nowhere to be seen so I popped the last bunch in the pot and turned to fire up the hose. But in the time it took for me to turn around, there she was! She can get up quite a speed on only one back leg! It's incredible watching her thigh joint rotate under her fur as she moves about.
Another old friend is back in ICU. Lake Private was in with us back in 2007. He was found wandering about, disoriented, so he's back with us for a little R&R. Pete asked me to feed him and he lapped it up like he remembered it well. Hopefully, he will get some energy back after a little rest and TLC at the Hospital.
Click here to view more of today's koala hospital snaps.
He was missing from his yard when Pete did his morning rounds. At first, he feared Steve had taken off into Macquarie Nature Reserve, but, no, he was much closer at hand. He had travelled from his own yard 1 to yard 3 just across the way.
Yard 3 is home to Amira Ruby, a gorgeous little female koala who delighted us with her placid demeanour and range of delightfully coloured bandages during her time in ICU.
Perhaps Steve thought Amira Ruby looked like a bit of alright. Pete suspects that - although she looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth - Ruby probably put up a bit of a fight. So not only did Steve scrape his nose in the process, he also probably got a bit of biffo for his efforts when he got there.
Poor old Steve! No wonder he was looking a little sorry for himself this morning. So I made sure I picked him an EXTRA big fluffy bundle of leaf and decked his gunyah out like it was a Christmas tree.
I got to see loads of other koalas I didn't expect to today. Newport Bridge Gloria has been back in for a while, but as she's been sharing the expanses of yard 9 with Birthday Girl, I've barely seen her down on ground level.
Today, she came down to visit and she looked just like I remembered her. We have a bit of a 'history', you see. I first encountered Gloria during her time on the University of Sydney research trials back in 2007. She made her way through the treatment, but had been in a number of other times since. During one particularly memorable visit, I made the brilliant decision to transfer Gloria from the ground to the gunyah to make it easier for a volunteer to feed her. It all went pear-shaped. She bit me...HARD...luckily connecting with my fingernail, or else she would probably have bit through my finger. And, worse still, I kind of, well, let her drop out of my grasp as the pain was just excruciating! Gloria was fine, she just sort of tumbled free and made her own way up on to the gunyah. Phew!
Today, there were no such dramas fortunately. She looked keen to see me but I'm not deluding myself; it's only because she mistook my camera for a feed pot.
She followed me all over the place, to the point that I was concerned she might leap on me. Fortunately Peter arrived with a basket for transporting koalas. Gloria was to be released this morning! Peter showed he how koala handling was really done by effortlessly plucking Gloria off the gunyah and placing her in the basket.
Gloria has been admitted 8 times already - most recently for motor vehicle accidents; fingers crossed she still has another life left.
Another koala I didn't expect to see today was Oxley Kaylee. Since having her rear left leg amputated, she has been doing marvelously well.
I almost never see her down from her tree. Brooke had cleaned her yard and I set about preparing his leaf. Usually I spray the leaf before placing it in the pots. It's trickier having to juggle a bunch of leaf as you spray it, but it's preferable to showering the koala! In Kaylee's case, she was nowhere to be seen so I popped the last bunch in the pot and turned to fire up the hose. But in the time it took for me to turn around, there she was! She can get up quite a speed on only one back leg! It's incredible watching her thigh joint rotate under her fur as she moves about.
Another old friend is back in ICU. Lake Private was in with us back in 2007. He was found wandering about, disoriented, so he's back with us for a little R&R. Pete asked me to feed him and he lapped it up like he remembered it well. Hopefully, he will get some energy back after a little rest and TLC at the Hospital.
Click here to view more of today's koala hospital snaps.
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Noni Houdini
Cole Porter might have had Lighthouse Noni in mind back in the day when he penned the classic song "Don't Fence Me In".
Of course, no koala *wants* to be confined to a fenced yard, let alone an indoor unit, as is the case in our ICU. But treatment at the Koala Hospital involves something of a balancing act between giving koalas a little of the kind of freedom they enjoy in the wild, but not giving them so much freedom that it gets in the way of their treatment.
Some koalas are a flight risk, plain and simple. One such koala is Lighthouse Noni. The two times she's been admitted in as many years, Noni's shown nothing but eagerness to be rid of the place.
Like all our admissions, Noni was named for the area of Port Macquarie she came from - in her case, Lighthouse Beach - but "lighthouse" is an especially apt descriptor for Noni - she likes to be up high and out of reach!
18 June 2008
This is Noni perched up high near the roof beams of her unit, after her admission two years ago.
From brokenpuzzle's gallery.
27 August 2008
After her initial period of treatment, she was moved to outdoor rehabilitation yard where she preferred hanging out well above us mere mortals.
From brokenpuzzle's gallery.
6 June 2010
Noni was admitted again a few weeks ago with a recurrence of her chlamydial infection. I was talking with Peter where we cut leaf outside the ICUs on Sunday morning, when suddenly something caught my eye... It was a koala who seemed to be in no particular hurry, but was strolling about the beams near the roof! And, of course, it was Lighthouse Noni!
The doors to each indoor ICU unit are kept shut and latched. During morning cleaning when the volunteer must make multiple trips in and out of the unit (sweeping, mopping, laying towels, laying newspaper, replenishing leaf), the door is usually just pulled closed. This is generally enough to deter *most* koalas. But, Noni, it seemed, had found a new use for her scimitar claws - to prise open her door and escape! Up there for thinking, Noni!
From koalawrangler's gallery.
We haven't had such a wiley escape artist at the Hospital since the likes of O'Briens Fiona (whom we nicknamed "FiFi Houdini") because of her extraordinary number of escape attempts. Here is a bit of a blurry picture of Fiona doing exactly what I suspect Noni must have done - wiggling the door open with her claws!
I reckon that Noni was just checking up on our progress preparing her morning supply of fresh leaf! Peter quickly went and got Noni's pot of nutritional supplement and a ladder. I love the photo below, which looks as though we might have hoped that Noni mind climb down it of her own accord and return to her unit on her own. But, no, Peter trotted up the ladder and got Noni's attention with some food.
From koalawrangler's gallery.
Noni seemed perfectly happy to take the rest of her formula that way. It was like she was saying that her room service was a little late this morning!
Next Peter set about preparing Noni's bag in order to return her to her unit. Each koala has a dedicated bag to prevent any spread of infection between animals.
From koalawrangler's gallery.
Rather than bag her completely, however, Peter just used the bag to prevent Noni from biting him while detaching her. You can see her dangling free as I quickly pocket my camera and set about taking Noni from Peter and returning her to her unit.
Once back under lock and key, I finished feeding Noni her formula and replenished her unit with fresh leaf. She seemed to settle down after that.
Noni's gotten herself quite a reputation in these last few weeks. The other day, she leapt from her gunyah and landed on Peter's feet as he stood in the doorway.
It's obviously become such a common occurrence that Cheyne's put up a warning sign for unsuspecting vollies:
From koalawrangler's gallery.
20 June 2010
Last weekend, I happened to chance upon Emma helping Brooke service Noni's unit. Emma held up a towel to discourage her, but Noni still made a run for it!
The sooner we ship this one out, the sooner we can all rest! Fingers crossed Noni Houdini gets better soon.
Click here to view more snaps of Lighthouse Noni.
Of course, no koala *wants* to be confined to a fenced yard, let alone an indoor unit, as is the case in our ICU. But treatment at the Koala Hospital involves something of a balancing act between giving koalas a little of the kind of freedom they enjoy in the wild, but not giving them so much freedom that it gets in the way of their treatment.
Some koalas are a flight risk, plain and simple. One such koala is Lighthouse Noni. The two times she's been admitted in as many years, Noni's shown nothing but eagerness to be rid of the place.
Like all our admissions, Noni was named for the area of Port Macquarie she came from - in her case, Lighthouse Beach - but "lighthouse" is an especially apt descriptor for Noni - she likes to be up high and out of reach!
18 June 2008
This is Noni perched up high near the roof beams of her unit, after her admission two years ago.
From brokenpuzzle's gallery.
27 August 2008
After her initial period of treatment, she was moved to outdoor rehabilitation yard where she preferred hanging out well above us mere mortals.
From brokenpuzzle's gallery.
6 June 2010
Noni was admitted again a few weeks ago with a recurrence of her chlamydial infection. I was talking with Peter where we cut leaf outside the ICUs on Sunday morning, when suddenly something caught my eye... It was a koala who seemed to be in no particular hurry, but was strolling about the beams near the roof! And, of course, it was Lighthouse Noni!
The doors to each indoor ICU unit are kept shut and latched. During morning cleaning when the volunteer must make multiple trips in and out of the unit (sweeping, mopping, laying towels, laying newspaper, replenishing leaf), the door is usually just pulled closed. This is generally enough to deter *most* koalas. But, Noni, it seemed, had found a new use for her scimitar claws - to prise open her door and escape! Up there for thinking, Noni!
From koalawrangler's gallery.
We haven't had such a wiley escape artist at the Hospital since the likes of O'Briens Fiona (whom we nicknamed "FiFi Houdini") because of her extraordinary number of escape attempts. Here is a bit of a blurry picture of Fiona doing exactly what I suspect Noni must have done - wiggling the door open with her claws!
I reckon that Noni was just checking up on our progress preparing her morning supply of fresh leaf! Peter quickly went and got Noni's pot of nutritional supplement and a ladder. I love the photo below, which looks as though we might have hoped that Noni mind climb down it of her own accord and return to her unit on her own. But, no, Peter trotted up the ladder and got Noni's attention with some food.
From koalawrangler's gallery.
Noni seemed perfectly happy to take the rest of her formula that way. It was like she was saying that her room service was a little late this morning!
Next Peter set about preparing Noni's bag in order to return her to her unit. Each koala has a dedicated bag to prevent any spread of infection between animals.
From koalawrangler's gallery.
Rather than bag her completely, however, Peter just used the bag to prevent Noni from biting him while detaching her. You can see her dangling free as I quickly pocket my camera and set about taking Noni from Peter and returning her to her unit.
Once back under lock and key, I finished feeding Noni her formula and replenished her unit with fresh leaf. She seemed to settle down after that.
Noni's gotten herself quite a reputation in these last few weeks. The other day, she leapt from her gunyah and landed on Peter's feet as he stood in the doorway.
It's obviously become such a common occurrence that Cheyne's put up a warning sign for unsuspecting vollies:
From koalawrangler's gallery.
20 June 2010
Last weekend, I happened to chance upon Emma helping Brooke service Noni's unit. Emma held up a towel to discourage her, but Noni still made a run for it!
The sooner we ship this one out, the sooner we can all rest! Fingers crossed Noni Houdini gets better soon.
Click here to view more snaps of Lighthouse Noni.
Saturday, 10 April 2010
A curious thing we have in common with koalas
I had an email from a researcher at the University of Massachusetts whose speciality is the formation of patterns on surfaces, such as fingerprints.
The reason he contacted me is that he wanted to use the photo I’d taken of the sole of a koala’s foot during an ultrasound.
Yet another thing that makes koalas unique is that their fingerprints tend to incorporate more dots or dimples than ridges. Amazingly, their fingerprints look very similar to human fingerprints to untrained eye and are unique to each animal, just like in humans. You can read more about it here.
I’d like to see THAT wend its way into a forensic crime series:
Click here to view more koala hospital snaps.
The reason he contacted me is that he wanted to use the photo I’d taken of the sole of a koala’s foot during an ultrasound.
Yet another thing that makes koalas unique is that their fingerprints tend to incorporate more dots or dimples than ridges. Amazingly, their fingerprints look very similar to human fingerprints to untrained eye and are unique to each animal, just like in humans. You can read more about it here.
I’d like to see THAT wend its way into a forensic crime series:
“Sorry, but this fingerprint isn’t human. It’s marsupial. Phascolarctos cinereus, to be precise. The suspect you’re looking for is a koala!”
Click here to view more koala hospital snaps.
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Where's Barry?
The first thing I notice upon returning to my blog is that the t-shirt I'm wearing in the masthead photo is very very blue. I had a fit of housewife brilliance the other week and decided the only way to get the brown dirt and green eucalyptus stains out of said shirt was to soak it in bleach. I promptly forgot about it and - hey presto! - I found myself with one pale lilac shirt, with glimmers of blue here and there. Sort of a batik effect. And wouldnt' you know it, the stains did not shift at all. Now, if anything, they're just more prominent because the shirt is now lighter.
But enough about me!
I worked the morning shift today and was allocated to yard 10 where I've been for the last few Sundays.
Peering into Westhaven Barry's yard, it's a case of "Where's Barry?". He's not on the gunyah that I can see, nor up his little tree, nor scurrying about the yard. Often when you can't see them, they're parked directly behind the gate, a bit like a small furry footman. But not this time. I ventured into the yard to inspect the gunayh in case he's tucked into (or, tucking into, more like) a spray of leaf.
Then I look up. Barry's ornamenting the centre of his umbrella. It's the perfect tree, with equally spaced branches that make it easy to climb and wedge yourself in.
Here's the video:
So Matt didn't get fed his nutritional formula today, since he couldn't be asked to come down. And I did ask him. Over and over. I reckon that observing the yard volunteers at the Koala Hospital mustn't be that dissimilar to watching patients ouside a mental health facility: we potter around our yards, picking up twigs and poop and nattering away to our allocated koala - a long involved albeit very one-sided conversation. Like watching someone you think might have 'a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock', only to realise that they're chattering away on a bluetooth headset.
Then there's young Kennedy Tristan. I remember the day he came in. It was November and he'd been hit by not one but two cars. He looked awful, with blood coming from his eyes.
But he made a rapid recovery and has been under observation in yard 10 for several weeks now. He has his own tree so that he maintains his climbing strength. He doesn't come down all that often, so he generally misses out on his formula. Today, though, he came down and was looking about himself rather insistently.
I made up some formula and went into his yard. And the chase was on! He scampered down from the gunyah and ran around the yard after me. I genuinely feared that if I slowed down, he might try to climb me. Finally, he jumped back onto his tree and I started drawing some formula up into the syringe. Apparently, I wasn't fast enough, however, as Tristan started hooting the traditional male bellow. It was remarkable seeing him do it up close. I managed to catch the tail end of it on video. It always sounds disembodied, like it's coming from somewhere else.
Then when I came to feeding him, he was soooo pushy. I couldn't get it in him fast enough; half of it ended up on his chin and shoulder:
After he finished, he took off up the tree again, leaving me feeling, well, a little used actually :)
Inside the hospital there was a bit of action going on. The supervisor was in, as well as some of the teamleader heavyweights, which is unusual for a Sunday. It turns out that they were off to Point Plomer where there have been bushfires this last week. Today was the first time wildlife rescuers were allowed onto the fireground, so Cheyne, Amanda, Judy and Peter were rigging themselves up in fireproof overalls and heading out there.
Barb was in to grab some leaf for her two homecare joeys. She's been rearing little orphaned Jimmy Barnes, who is only about 9 months old (ie three months out of the pouch). Settlement Point Bea has also been home with Barb these least two weeks as she'd been losing weight.
I asked Barb if she ever puts the two joeys together. Usually, she said, Bea was out in her own aviary, but owning to the hot weather she had brought her inside a few times and put her in front of the fan. Bea is about 2 years old now, and unlike other juvenile koalas of her age, she is happy to sit in a towel-lined basket with her front hands over the lip of the basket Kilroy-was-here style, just staring at Barb. This points to how NOT like a 'normal' koala she is. We suspect brain damage owing to her fall to the oyster rocks, which is what brought her into us in the first place.
Barb said when she put Jimmy in with Bea, he started 'eee'ing and squealing. He didn't like it. Barb reckons it's just that Jimmy's not interested in any older-lady cougar koalas!
Click here to view more of today's koala hospital snaps.
But enough about me!
I worked the morning shift today and was allocated to yard 10 where I've been for the last few Sundays.
Peering into Westhaven Barry's yard, it's a case of "Where's Barry?". He's not on the gunyah that I can see, nor up his little tree, nor scurrying about the yard. Often when you can't see them, they're parked directly behind the gate, a bit like a small furry footman. But not this time. I ventured into the yard to inspect the gunayh in case he's tucked into (or, tucking into, more like) a spray of leaf.
Then I look up. Barry's ornamenting the centre of his umbrella. It's the perfect tree, with equally spaced branches that make it easy to climb and wedge yourself in.
Here's the video:
So Matt didn't get fed his nutritional formula today, since he couldn't be asked to come down. And I did ask him. Over and over. I reckon that observing the yard volunteers at the Koala Hospital mustn't be that dissimilar to watching patients ouside a mental health facility: we potter around our yards, picking up twigs and poop and nattering away to our allocated koala - a long involved albeit very one-sided conversation. Like watching someone you think might have 'a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock', only to realise that they're chattering away on a bluetooth headset.
Then there's young Kennedy Tristan. I remember the day he came in. It was November and he'd been hit by not one but two cars. He looked awful, with blood coming from his eyes.
But he made a rapid recovery and has been under observation in yard 10 for several weeks now. He has his own tree so that he maintains his climbing strength. He doesn't come down all that often, so he generally misses out on his formula. Today, though, he came down and was looking about himself rather insistently.
I made up some formula and went into his yard. And the chase was on! He scampered down from the gunyah and ran around the yard after me. I genuinely feared that if I slowed down, he might try to climb me. Finally, he jumped back onto his tree and I started drawing some formula up into the syringe. Apparently, I wasn't fast enough, however, as Tristan started hooting the traditional male bellow. It was remarkable seeing him do it up close. I managed to catch the tail end of it on video. It always sounds disembodied, like it's coming from somewhere else.
Then when I came to feeding him, he was soooo pushy. I couldn't get it in him fast enough; half of it ended up on his chin and shoulder:
After he finished, he took off up the tree again, leaving me feeling, well, a little used actually :)
Inside the hospital there was a bit of action going on. The supervisor was in, as well as some of the teamleader heavyweights, which is unusual for a Sunday. It turns out that they were off to Point Plomer where there have been bushfires this last week. Today was the first time wildlife rescuers were allowed onto the fireground, so Cheyne, Amanda, Judy and Peter were rigging themselves up in fireproof overalls and heading out there.
Barb was in to grab some leaf for her two homecare joeys. She's been rearing little orphaned Jimmy Barnes, who is only about 9 months old (ie three months out of the pouch). Settlement Point Bea has also been home with Barb these least two weeks as she'd been losing weight.
I asked Barb if she ever puts the two joeys together. Usually, she said, Bea was out in her own aviary, but owning to the hot weather she had brought her inside a few times and put her in front of the fan. Bea is about 2 years old now, and unlike other juvenile koalas of her age, she is happy to sit in a towel-lined basket with her front hands over the lip of the basket Kilroy-was-here style, just staring at Barb. This points to how NOT like a 'normal' koala she is. We suspect brain damage owing to her fall to the oyster rocks, which is what brought her into us in the first place.
Barb said when she put Jimmy in with Bea, he started 'eee'ing and squealing. He didn't like it. Barb reckons it's just that Jimmy's not interested in any older-lady cougar koalas!
Click here to view more of today's koala hospital snaps.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Study confirms bellowing is music of love to female koalas
An interesting article in the Courier Mail regarding research into what the unique bellow of the male koala means:
"Study confirms bellowing is music of love to female koalas"
You can hear the sounds of both the male and female koalas before mating here (caught on my mobile phone voice recorder last week!):
Click here to view the latest koala hospital snaps.
You can hear the sounds of both the male and female koalas before mating here (caught on my mobile phone voice recorder last week!):
Click here to view the latest koala hospital snaps.
December Gum Tips -- out now!
Friday, 6 November 2009
Sparky Koala set free!
Although the Koala Hospital was not involved, here's a koala story to warm the cockles of your heart.... A koala managed to find its way into a zone substation on the mid north coast. Electrical technicians were called in to deal with the misplaced marsupial. They enlisted the help of some local wildlife volunteers to relocate the koala safely to some nearby bushland.
The story was reported in the October 2009 edition of Cross Country, the newspaper for Country Energy employees.
The story was reported in the October 2009 edition of Cross Country, the newspaper for Country Energy employees.
Monday, 5 October 2009
Wild koala sighting!
Friends of mine were visiting from out of town this morning and they were delighted by a wild koala sighting as we were on our way out to breakfast.
I saw the speckly-grey one galloping across the McLaren Drive (fortunately near the koala corridor where residents know to slow down), before shooting up a tree in Nulla Close.
He had a green tag in his left ear, which signified he was a former Hospital patient and a male. His bottom was slightly dirty but dry, so he was probably a former wet-botton sufferer. It can take some time for the Chlamydial staining to grow out.
He made the familiar male cry (which you can hear here) as he clambered up the tree then stopped and looked down at us.
I went back and checked later in the day and he was still in the same tree. Hope he stays off the roads!
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Peter Garrett meets Birthday Girl
The Honorable Peter Garrett, Federal Minister for the Environment, visited the Koala Hospital today. He pledged his support for the addition of koalas to the threatened species list.
First he met with Barb who told him about hand-rearing the joey, Settlement Point Bea:
Earlier I had caught young Bea enjoying her lunchtime snack on film, here:
Then the Hon. Mr Garrett met with our 22-year-old pride and joy, Birthday Girl:
...and then shared a bit of choccy cake with Cheyne and Bob:
In other news, the gorgeous Oxley Highway Matt, he of the broken pelvis from yesterday's post, decided he was much better today and escaped his yard. He was located first thing this morning, pottering around the leaf shed (obviously wondering when breakfast was arriving).
He's been relocated one yard over where there is a nice tree for him to climb, complete with "trainer wheels" (i.e. a pole extending directly from the gunyah to the tree). Once his pelvis is fully healed, he'll be released back to the real world.
Click here to view more photos of Peter Garrett's visit to the koala hospital today.
First he met with Barb who told him about hand-rearing the joey, Settlement Point Bea:
Earlier I had caught young Bea enjoying her lunchtime snack on film, here:
Then the Hon. Mr Garrett met with our 22-year-old pride and joy, Birthday Girl:
...and then shared a bit of choccy cake with Cheyne and Bob:
In other news, the gorgeous Oxley Highway Matt, he of the broken pelvis from yesterday's post, decided he was much better today and escaped his yard. He was located first thing this morning, pottering around the leaf shed (obviously wondering when breakfast was arriving).
He's been relocated one yard over where there is a nice tree for him to climb, complete with "trainer wheels" (i.e. a pole extending directly from the gunyah to the tree). Once his pelvis is fully healed, he'll be released back to the real world.
Click here to view more photos of Peter Garrett's visit to the koala hospital today.
Monday, 24 August 2009
Oxley Highway Matt
"Have you met Matt?" Peter asked me as we headed towards yard 5.
There were no leaf pots on the gunyah, the usual sure sign that a koala was occupying that yard. And no sign of a koala either, that is until I approached the fence and looked down...
Two large buckets of water were arrayed on the ground and spilling over with bunches of fresh eucalyptus leaf. Peering from between this leafy arrangement was a most extraordinary sight: a breathtakingly beautiful koala with a pink speckled nose. He was sitting most serenely among the gum tips in what looked to be a dog basket! The paw-print pattern on the basket lining was something of a giveaway.
Oxley Highway Matt is a young adult male koala who was hit by a car on the Oxley Highway. He suffered a broken pelvis but is otherwise a beautiful specimen of koalahood. In the morning sun, his white chest was gleaming so brightly that I could actually observe the journey of two tiny tick nymphs making their way up towards his chin. His fur was otherwise a healthy grey and his ears were round and bushy like he'd just been to a salon.
He looked remarkably "chilled", considering his predicament. He is able to climb a little but will spends most of this early part of his recovery down at ground level. The basket is filled with soft towels and the bedding is changed every day. The vollies also give him lovely new bunches of leaf each morning and refresh them in the afternoon with a spritz of water.
While I was there, I offered him a sprig of eucalptus and took it and a had a nibble. What a chilled out koalavidual!
See Matt chilling out on video here:
Click here to view more snaps of Oxley Highway Matt.
There were no leaf pots on the gunyah, the usual sure sign that a koala was occupying that yard. And no sign of a koala either, that is until I approached the fence and looked down...
Two large buckets of water were arrayed on the ground and spilling over with bunches of fresh eucalyptus leaf. Peering from between this leafy arrangement was a most extraordinary sight: a breathtakingly beautiful koala with a pink speckled nose. He was sitting most serenely among the gum tips in what looked to be a dog basket! The paw-print pattern on the basket lining was something of a giveaway.
Oxley Highway Matt is a young adult male koala who was hit by a car on the Oxley Highway. He suffered a broken pelvis but is otherwise a beautiful specimen of koalahood. In the morning sun, his white chest was gleaming so brightly that I could actually observe the journey of two tiny tick nymphs making their way up towards his chin. His fur was otherwise a healthy grey and his ears were round and bushy like he'd just been to a salon.
He looked remarkably "chilled", considering his predicament. He is able to climb a little but will spends most of this early part of his recovery down at ground level. The basket is filled with soft towels and the bedding is changed every day. The vollies also give him lovely new bunches of leaf each morning and refresh them in the afternoon with a spritz of water.
While I was there, I offered him a sprig of eucalptus and took it and a had a nibble. What a chilled out koalavidual!
See Matt chilling out on video here:
Click here to view more snaps of Oxley Highway Matt.
Monday, 17 August 2009
Clover's a dad!
One of our former residents, a male koala called Livingstone Clover, has done us proud. Clover was unable to be returned to the wild due to a hindleg injury, so he was 'retired' to Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park back in late 2007. Except that he's not of retirement age, and aside from his gammy leg, is an otherwise healthy breeding male. So Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park thought he'd be perfect as a stud male for their posse of breeding females.
Things started out slowly, without much to show for Clover's presence during the the first 18 months. Then, lo and behold, Clover fathered not one but TWO joeys with two different female koalas. One is too little to be showing itself out of the pouch, but the other fellow, an as-yet-unnamed male joey has been delighting carers and visitors at the Park in recent weeks.
There is a interesting story about the mother of the joey. She was conceived at Dreamworld, where her mother had been artificially inseminated with assistance from researchers at the University of Queensland. The resulting joey was named Daiquiri, after the program initials: Dreamworld Artificial Insemination Queensland University. And now Daiquiri's become a mum the old-fashioned way with our Livingstone Clover.
So we feel bit like proud grandparents here at the Koala Hospital. We're glad that Livingstone Clover has done his bit to boost koala numbers and look forward to photos of baby no. 2 when s/he decides to give us a peep. Meanwhile, let's ogle that cuddly little joey some more:
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