Saving Koalas

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During the 2019 bushfires many koalas were left without a habitat. The koala hospital in Port Macquarie is home to many of those that were rescued from the fires (photo to the right). Unfortunately the damage done to their bodies means they cannot enter the wild and survive. The volunteers that are involved in taking care of the koalas are a reminder that there is still a good side to humanity. Clinical director Chayne Flannigan has worked at the hospital for 20 years and has come to know many of the volunteers who she describes as kind, compassionate and caring animal lovers.

 

Yard worker and trainee Georgie Farlo is like the pied piper of koalas. As she walks around cleaning and feeding she is constantly followed by her little furry friends who have taken her on as their surrogate mothers. She gives her accounts of what it’s like to be a volunteer and work with such beautiful creatures. Jeremy Bear is a volunteer who happened upon the hospital after visiting with his wife who was researching for a school excursion. He has since  moved into the search and rescue team and knows firsthand what it’s like to pull a screaming koala from a burning tree.

 

Now that they have accumulated numerous koalas from the same regions, they are working on a breeding program that will see wild koalas who need to remain in captivity for the rest of their lives, give birth to koalas that will be released back into the wild. 

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Producer: Melanie Scott