Caring for injured Australian wildlife at Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, New South Wales
The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital on the the North Coast of New South Wales looks after koalas that have been injured by dogs, bushfires and swimming pools. David Whitley went along to see how Australian wildlife’s cutest critters are getting on.
Koalas: Not always sleepy
It’s always nice to have your illusions shattered. Given that koalas aren’t exactly renowned for their non-stop athleticism at the best of times, you’d hardly expect the unfortunate ones beset by blindness, permanent disabilities and venereal diseases to be little hubs of pure energy.
Well, try telling that to Paddy, who has discharged himself from hospital, and is haring up and down a tree in a bid for freedom.
Security at Port Macquarie Koala Hospital
Paddy has chlamydia, an unfortunately common complaint for these sleepy little furballs, and he has been placed in isolation to stop him infecting others. However, the security at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, on the North Coast of New South Wales, isn’t watertight, and he’s managed to make his break.
The escapee has caused quite a commotion too, as a troupe of volunteers attempts to stop him running amok. Sending someone up the tree after him would be an obviously fruitless pursuit, so more cunning tactics have to be brought into play.
How to catch a koala
Apparently, koalas can’t stand things being wafted around their head, so Chris, the hospital’s habitat officer has attached a plastic bag to an extremely long pole. As he waves it above Paddy’s head, the miscreant scarpers down the tree trunk with surprising speed, and this process continues until he’s near the bottom.
Waiting there to pounce are two volunteers with a sack, hoping to bundle him into it and take him back to the ward.
Paddy is having none of it though, and as soon as he spots a brief respite from the plastic bag of unimaginable terror, he races back up the trunk to the highest branch he can find. The whole process, now beginning to look like something straight out of The Benny Hill Show, is repeated again – and again – until finally the prisoner is dragged kicking and screaming away, clawing his Hessian cage.
Port Macquarie: Australia’s koala capital
Port Macquarie is arguably Australia’s koala capital. It is surrounded by prime habitat, a gum tree heaven if you will, and the dozy marsupials still thrive here, even though the town is growing at a rapid rate. The human expansion has been costly for the koala population. As more housing springs up, more trees are cut down, and many of the patients at the hospital are there for man-made reasons.
How koalas get injured
According to Anne, the volunteer who guides us round, car accidents, maulings from pet dogs and drowning in swimming pools are just three problems the urban koala faces. They may have sharp claws, but they’re hardly likely to win a fight with a narky bull terrier or Holden Monaro.
The swimming pools are a more eyebrow-raising problem as, although hardly the Ian Thorpes of the animal world, they can actually swim reasonably well. The issue, says Anne, is that once in the pool, they can’t get out. The walls of the pool are too steep, and they can’t get a grip on the tiles at the top, so they just tread water and flounder about until they run out of energy and slowly drown.
It’s a pretty horrible way to go, and the hospital is encouraging local residents to put a small rope dangling in their pools so that the wayward adventurers can pull themselves up. Whether it will take on remains to be seen, but the staff of the hospital are determined to prove that not all human interaction with koalas has to be bad.
How the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital is funded
Set up in 1973 and run almost entirely by good-natured people donating their time, the hospital receives no Government funding. The $140,000 a year it takes to keep operations going comes entirely from donations, be it from visitors, generous benefactors or its adopt-a-koala scheme.
Over 100 people volunteer their services in various roles; conducting tours, running the shop or going out at dawn every morning to collect fallen branches from the bush to feed the koalas with.
Hand-rearing koalas
The most dedicated of all are those who take the youngest and most needy home with them. They are hand-reared as if a newborn child – including feeding sessions in the middle of the night – until they are of sufficient weight and health to be transferred to the hospital. It’s quite clear that these people care an awful lot about their eucalyptus-munching friends, and this shines through as you’re led through the pens in which the recovering koalas are housed.
Lord Michael and Lord James
Every inmate has his or her own story, some tragic, some hilarious. Take a former favourite, Lord Michael, who has now been released. He was found clinging to the back of a German Shepherd, sinking his claws into her back and generally believing that it was his mother.
Then there is Lord James, who decided he liked the holiday camp lifestyle so much that, even after being released, he turned up in the grounds again to check himself back in.
The smiles turn to sympathy for some of the more unfortunate ones though, the ones that will never be able to survive in the wild.
Blind koalas and bushfires
Kempsey Carolina (they’re mostly named after the place or street in which they were found and the person who found them) is blind and has been looked after since being hit by a car in 1999. She can still climb trees, but she’d never make it if she was let out.
Cloud has suffered a succession of woe. She was caught up in a bushfire in 1994, and suffered horrific burns. Her claws are damaged irreparably, and to top it off, she got chlamydia too.
However, that’s not to say that the permanent convalescents cannot have a happy story too. Bonny Fire’s footpads and nail beds are beyond salvation, but she’s left a legacy after a male patient got into her enclosure and did what frisky male koalas do. Her baby was born in the hospital, and was released into the wild last Christmas.
Feeding koalas
As these stories are being explained, the koalas are being fed. Some get leaves to munch on, but others have to have a formula dripped into them via syringe. The handlers take great care, which given that their diners are capable of biting through human bones is possibly more out of fear than nurturing instinct. It’s all gratefully lapped up though, and strangely enough, there don’t seem to be too many of them asleep up trees come feeding time. Perhaps the whole lazy and immobile thing is a myth after all?
Getting to Port Macquarie Koala Hospital
Port Macquarie is 510km south of Brisbane, approximately a seven hour drive, and 450km north of Sydney. The Koala Hospital can be found in the Macquarie Nature Reserve on Lord Street, a 15-20 minute walk from the city centre. It’s open every day, with feeding time tours conducted at 3pm. Entry and the tours are free, although donations are greatly appreciated.
