GumTipsQuarterly Newsletter of the

Koala Hospital Port MacquarieJune2009

Koala Preservation Society of NSW Inc.PO Box 236 Port MacquarieNSW 2444 Australia

tel: (02) 6584 1522 fax: (02) 6584 2399web: http://www.koalahospital.org.auemail: info@koalahospital.org.au

Cover Story: Birthday Girl ......................2, 3From the President...................................4Friends of the Koala Hospital ...................4Supervisor’s Report .................................5How Much Can A Koala “Bear”?..........6, 7Fun Runners: Deana & Russell................8Judy’s a Winner........................................9Technically Speaking: Uni of Sydney.....10Koala Adopters: Phillip & Bianca ...........11Report on Vic Bushfire Relief .........12, 13Adopt-A-Wild-Koala Report ...................14Maintenance Report ..............................14Education Report ...................................15Media & Communications Report ..........15Hospital Report...............................16, 17

Happy Birthday GirlWhat’s inside:

there, we do not know. Why she wascalled Birthday Girl is also a mys-tery lost in the gum leaves.Nonetheless, Birthday Girl pre-sides over Yard 9, bossing aboutany koala who dares to sit on her

gunyah, or eat her leaf, or sitin her favourite tree fork.

For a very, very old koala,she is holding remarkably

good weight and body condi-tion, and has a superb appetite for

both choice leaf and her daily feed offormula. Birthday Girl is also quiet, gentle

and very photogenic.More mature readers may sympathise with

Birthday Girl’s medical condition, which includes

Birthday Girl has earned her “starbilling” as front page news again.This grand old female koala hasnow clocked up just on 22 yearsof living, which is a phenomenalfeat for any koala. On averagemost wild female koalas make itto around 15-18 years,with wild male koalasreaching only 10-14 years.

We can confidently predicther age, due to the fact her firstadmission to the Koala Hospital wasway back in February 1990 when, as ayoung three year old (based on weight and skele-tal measurements), Birthday Girl was found sittingon the side of a busy main road. Why she was

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22-year-old matria

rch

Happy Birthday Girl

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an advanced case of arthritis of the hip joints.Consequently, Birthday Girl doesn’t move so wellthese days, but nonetheless she still manages toclimb trees every so often (although not too high),much to the amazement of staff. We all still laughat her “escape” out of the yard about 18 monthsago in search of a “bit of love” with Roto Randy,the local alpha male (and the same alpha male wesuspect fathered Bonny Fire’s last joey, littleBlaze). She ended up stuck 30 metres up the treeand had to be rescued by a tree climber (see theMarch 2008 edition of Gum Tips athttp://www.koalahospital.org.au/gumtips/).

Birthday Girl is part of the Sydney Universityresearch study into various medications, includingthe NSAID drug (anti-inflammatory) that shereceives daily. This drug keeps her pain level undercontrol and allows her the freedom of movementshe needs. Birthday Girl contributes blood samples

as part of this ongoing research program. Resultsof these tests have proven that this drug can begiven for longer periods than was initially thoughtacceptable, without any clinical side effects beingevidenced. This drug, of course, was the reason shefelt so good and decided to escape and seek outRoto Randy. With Birthday Girl stuck so high inthe tree, she started to miss out on her daily med-ication and eventually the arthritis pain won out,leaving her immobile—and stuck up the tree!

Birthday Girl is also teaching us a lot about age-related changes in koalas. It’s amazing to actuallysee how fit and well she is at her advanced age.Consequently, Sydney University are following herprogress with interest. At 22, Birthday Girl hasnow surpassed the age of another very old femalekoala patient called “Miss Beautiful” who reached21 years a few years ago.

Knowing that koalas can indeed reach ages farbeyond what is generally considered the norm canhave implications for both captive and wild koalamanagement issues in the future.

Good on you Birthday Girl—you are changingscientific data for the better! Watch this space foran update on Birthday Girl’s 23rd birthday!

After a lot of fundraising and support from the local business commu-nity during this last 12 months, we were able to purchase the KoalaAmbulance, which has proved to be a tremendous asset—not justwith rescuing koalas—but also with building local awareness of thework of the Koala Hospital.

Our first ‘Family Fun Day’ in September and the ‘Open Day’ in Aprilwere both outstandingly successful. The volunteers within ‘Friends ofthe Koala Hospital’, the ‘Maintenance team’ and our ‘Souvenir Kiosk’did a tremendous job to raise much-needed funds. Special thanks goto Geoff and Robyne for organising these events.

Adopt-A-Wild-Koala has also been an exceptional success due tothe commitment of Lorraine and Jan especially during the Decemberperiod when ‘Friends’ worked tirelessly with them to meet theChristmas deadline.

To the committee, staff and volunteers who worked well togetherachieving a great deal over the last 12 months: a big thank you forwhat you have done, for supporting me as president and being pre-pared to continue on with the work at the Koala Hospital.

To Cheyne and her team, the team leaders, leaf collectors and vol-unteers: thank you for a job well done. This is where teamwork pays

From the President

Bob SharphamPresident

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off and we see theresults of our efforts torescue and rehabili-tate koalas, toincrease habitat andto educate and influ-ence the local andgreater communities.

East Port Bowling Club. The Koala Hospitalreceived a donation cheque of $300 as their annualcontribution.

1133 MMaayy.. Geoff and I attended another presentationat Bananacoast Community Credit Union (BCU)where we received a cheque for $419.75 being thefirst year’s proceeds from the Community SaverAccount programme. It’s nice to know that peoplein Port Macquarie are choosing to support theHospital in this way.

We still have our donation boxes active aroundtown and Wauchope. Also we will be participatingin NAIDOC week on Wednesday 8 July on TownGreen. We will be looking for volunteers to assiston the day.

Thank you,

Robyne LeadbeatterFriends Co-ordinator

2288 MMaarrcchh.. We had a morning tea/fundraiser atBain Park in Wauchope in conjunction with a localgroup. We raised over $320 for the VictoriaBushfire Appeal in a couple of hours. I’d like tothank Geoff and Lorraine for their help on the day.

55 AApprriill.. We had a team working at the Triathlonserving meals...it was full-on and thanks go to allwho helped out on behalf of the Koala Hospital.Special thanks to Brian Crisp. We received acheque for $350 for our efforts.

1111 AApprriill.. This was our Open Day. Again very suc-cessful, a big thank you to all involved...withoutyour efforts it would not have been the success itwas. We raised $3,923.39. As some of you know, Idid a follow-up after the day and got some goodfeedback as to how we may be able to improve nextyear’s event.

2288 AApprriill.. Geoff, Lorraine, Kev and myself wereinvited to the Quota Club’s Installation evening at

of the Koala Hospital

fence or not too far downthe road, and reassurethem that koalas willoften “camp” in any treeduring the day and then go on to feed on the goodtrees at night.

It is heartening to note that these koalas wehave been sent out to check on lately have allbeen in excellent health, good condition andappear to be doing extremely well. It’s great tosee this occurring instead of seeing so manykoalas debilitated and in poor health coming inas patients.

It seems we are becoming in hot demand forpublic speaking this year. The hospital has hadrepresentatives speaking at veterinary confer-ences, and will be speaking to various communitygroups shortly about koala population issues. Wewill be speaking at the NSW RSPCA conference,and, by the time this is printed, a team of us willhave been to the Lismore Friends of the Koala(FOK) Koala Conservation Conference to present.We will also be conducting Chlamydia trainingworkshops in two locations in Victoria in July.Plus, we will be hosting and training TAFE stu-dents again in August. Phew!

The second edition of our Koala RehabilitationManual, which was proudly sponsored byCountry Energy, is selling really well with copiesbeing sold in Victoria, NSW and Qld, with someeven going to zoos in Europe. We are most grate-ful to Country Energy for this opportunity to pro-duce the manual in such a professional way.

As stated previously, the volunteer team num-ber is high with plenty of enthusiastic workers.The supervisory team are flowing along beautiful-ly with just enough koala patients admitted foreveryone to keep their skills up.

What scares me is that we are almost half waythrough the year already. Wasn’t it Christmas justa few weeks ago?

At the time of writing, the hospital is very quiet,which is normal for this time of year. Just beforebreeding season gets under way, the koala popu-lation tends to lie low for a short period.Consequently, we have more volunteers than wehave koala patients at the moment—so thosekoalas who are here in the hospital are gettingthat extra special attention from so many devot-ed carers.

Nonetheless, we still have had a run of motorvehicle impact admissions with some unfortu-nately not making it. We do have two in care atpresent who, even in spite of fractures of limbsand pelvic areas, should recover completely andwill be releasable in the near future. We are alsogetting call-outs to check on koalas in areas thatdon’t have a lot of trees available them. Usuallywe can point out to the concerned resident anumber of good-quality food trees just over the

Supervisor’s Report

Cheyne FlanaganSupervisor

Country Energy’s Andrew Latta presents Cheyne with the KoalaRehabilitation Manual whose publication Country Energy sponsored.

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People hold many different views regarding what koalasare actually like. Some believe that koalas are ferocious,aggressive animals that can leap out of trees and tear youapart. This has probably arisen from the very loud growl-ing and hooting that males exhibit at mating time—espe-cially when in pursuit of a fertile female or when wardingoff a rival male. Such a sight is usually enough to scare theuninitiated, especially when the koala’s sharp, scimitar-shaped claws and long, biting incisors are visible duringthe scuffle.

But the most commonly held view about koalas is justthe opposite: that they are cute, soft, sweet animals thatyou could simply pick up and cuddle (please don’t try thisif you see one!). This idea probably came from theirresemblance to soft plush toys that have fluffy fur andfluffy ears (such as teddy bears) that even the most hard-ened person wants to squeeze. Combine this with the sightof an adult koala whose body shape and facial design isabout the same size and roundness of an 18-month-oldhuman toddler, and it tends to bring out the “ooo andaaahh” factor out in many of us.

In reality, the koala exists somewhere between thesetwo points of view.

CAPTIVE-BRED KOALASCaptive-bred koalas (hand-raised and kept in zoos, sanctu-aries, etc.) mostly tend to be quieter and more tractablethan their wild counterparts simply because they are han-dled daily and have been exposed to human contact fromday one. However, this does not mean that captive-bredkoalas are in any way “tame”—far from it! They alwaysremain wild animals that are well and truly capable ofexhibiting all the normal wild traits. This wildness is never

bred out of them. Put a captive bred koala back in the bush(aided by a few soft-release tactics) and most will revertback to their feral wild state in a short space of time.

WILD KOALASA wild koala—one who has lived its entire life in the bushwithout close contact with humans—can certainly exhibitboth expected and unexpected behaviours when broughtinto captivity. The vast majority are understandably terri-fied at an encounter with us very odd, strange-smelling,loud, furless, two-legged creatures. They express obviousfear: their eyes pop wide open, their whole body becomestense, and they start to breathe rapidly. If approached orcornered, a koala will sit back with their forearmsstretched out ready to slash at the offender with thosescimitar claws—some will even cry out in a high-pitchedcall of terror. A koala in this position will readily bite at thenearest bit of human flesh that is available to them (theresults can be quite painful!). Of course, we would expectthis sort of reaction from any wild animal that is simplyprotecting itself. This sort of natural behaviour is readilyseen in female koalas, especially those with pouch- orback-young. There are some adult males who remain ingreat fear of humans and have been observed launchingthemselves from their trees into thin air to endeavour toescape contact.

On the other hand, some wild koalas, particularly themales, can react in just the opposite way and appear to justsit quite passively when caught. More often than not,though, when their heart rate is checked, it will be beatingextremely fast—a sure sign they are indeed terrified buthiding it very well. Usually the observer will note veryrapid breathing as well. Maybe it’s some sort of survivalstrategy for them to sit quietly, or maybe they simply don’tknow what to make of their encounter and end up in whatcan only be described in human terms as being “lost forwords”.

How much can a

?

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Then there is the odd koala who comes into care for thefirst time and is genuinely quite laidback in their approachto human contact. Heart rate is normal, respiration is nor-mal and they show no sign of the normal protective strate-gies that koalas usually exhibit. Theseunusual koalas are often nicknamed“dudes” by the staff of the KoalaHospital for their calm, unfussed man-ner which is surprising to see in a wildanimal.

Nonetheless, even the more usualwild-acting koalas do settle down whenthey come into the care of humans andappear to be quite accepting of what weare trying to do for them. This behav-iour especially applies to very il l ,injured or debilitated koalas that acceptall our treatments in a stoic, resignedfashion and who may occasionally cryout or growl but generally are amenableto all the fuss.

Most adult koalas in our care receivesupportive nutrition/hydration in theform of a low-lactose milk formula thatis fed to them. It is usually either loved or hated by thekoala patients and understandably there are many whosimply refuse to take it. Interestingly though, once a koaladoes get a taste and liking for this fluid, they will grab atthe carer when it is being fed to them as they are so keento drink it. For koalas to love somethingthat is not part of their normal eucalyptdiet is rather curious. Yet, the boost itgives to nutrition and fluid intake aidskoalas’ recovery so well that it is usedthroughout Australia for rehabilitationpurposes. Why some love it, is a totalmystery and it really doesn’t fit the pro-file of a wild animal response!However, they happily relinquish themilky fluid when they return to thebush.

Eventually once a koala is well andready for release, most of them startexhibiting behaviours that tell the carerthat it’s time to go. They will pacearound their yard, aviary or unitthroughout the night. Often this can beaccompanied by hooting and growling(even females will do this). It is also notunusual for them to “self-release”, i.e., escape from theiryard. Of course, this is not a good practice as the koalaneeds to be returned to its home range, which is usuallytheir original pickup point or a safer location nearby.

Unfortunately, some koalas’ treatment regime and staycan be arduous and lengthy (such a severe motor vehicleinjury). With these cases, it’s not uncommon for koalas to

exhibit depressive behaviour. They may lose their appetite,even traits of their “wildness”, and sit curled up andappear to be giving up. Getting them outside into the freshair usually sparks them up which of course really aids a

quicker recovery time. Consequently,we work on the premise that the short-er the time in care, the better.

At the actual release location,most koalas tend to start to climb thetree and then stop halfway up. Thenthey look around at their surroundingsand often look back down at thehuman who has just let them go. Ofcourse, we would all like to think it is a“goodbye” thing, but in reality theyprobably have just scanned the area intheir view, which includes us, and aresimply checking the area for higher orlower ranking koalas or any otherpotential threats. Then without a sec-ond look they usually head right up tothe top of the tree with some hooting,hollering and scent-marking on theway—probably out of their sheer joy of

being back in the bush and a desire to advertise their pres-ence at the same time. Most koalas revert back to theirwild state immediately upon release or not long after.

Often if these koalas come back into care at some pointin the future, they tend to be a little less scared, and are

more easily handled and treated due totheir previous exposure to humans.Other readmitted koalas don’t relax atall, and react just as strongly as theydid the first time. These ones really dostay in their wild state throughout. It’svery much an individual thing.

It gives Koala Hospital staff causeto chuckle sometimes when a “repeatoffender” (a koala that has been apatient previously) has been brought tothe hospital for treatment when, theminute they are placed on the table forassessment, the koala starts licking theair in anticipation of the rehabilitationformula they enjoyed during their laststay. They certainly have good memo-ries.

As far as a native animal goes,wild koalas are probably one of the eas-

ier marsupials to deal with when brought into captivity.Possibly, this is one of the reasons why they are loved somuch, in addition to all the other factors that make themso appealing.

Nonetheless, all our native fauna are beautiful, specialand unique and are worthy of the same protection, conser-vation and care.

koala ‘bear’?

We hope the money weraised will go a littleway towards helping

the koalas.

Deana & Russell fromManchester, UK, visited theKoala Hospital in 2008.When they returned home tothe UK, they decided to par-ticipate in a charity run toraise money for the KoalaHospital!

They made up some t-shirts bearing the KoalaHospital logo, and added aphoto of former Hospital res-ident, Ocean Kim, on thefront and some facts aboutthe Hospital on the back, inorder to raise awarenessabout the work we do at theHospital.

Deana and Russell com-pleted the Bupa GreatManchester Run in a goodtime and managed to raise£120 for the Hospital!

Deana and Russell’s dona-tion will go towards purchas-ing a much needed bloodpathology machine!

Good on you, Deana andRussell. The koalas and theKoala Hospital thank you!—Deana & Russell

Become a member

Adopt a wild koala

Volunteer

Donate

T O H E L PT H E K O A L A S

HELP US

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2. You start saving and earn an attractiverate of interest.

3. Once a year, BCU donates an amountequal to 1% of the annual average balanceheld in your account to your nominatedcommunity group (that is, the KoalaHospital).

It’s that easy. And it will result in some extra income for

the Koala Hospital if you nominate us as yourcommunity group beneficiary.

Always available when called upon (except when lawn bowls isan option) Judy is a team leader, home carer, walk and talkguide, rescuer (along with husband Paul), fireground rescuerand always on the list for training in whatever is offered. Judytakes an interest in General Meetings and is usually in atten-dance. She is a friend to everyone, encouraging and patient tonew volunteers by taking time to explain the reasons why, notjust ordering them about.

Judy is an example to us all as a representative of a KoalaHospital volunteer.

Congratulations to those nominated: Anne Wash, Coral & BillLane, Hazell Sellers, Jackie Moody, Lisa Bishop, PeterSchulties, Tom & Bev Meyers.

Bananacoast CommunityCredit Union (BCU), yourlocal credit union, haslaunched a new concept insavings—the BCU

Community Saver Account. Here’s how it works:1. You open a BCU Community Saver

Account (CSA) and nominate a commu-nity group (e.g. the Koala Hospital.)

JJuuddyy BBrraaddyy wwiinnss JJeeaann SSttaarrrr AAwwaarrdd

Tiny Tot

Judy Brady (left) receives her award from Koala Hospital founder Jean Starr (centre)and President Bob Sharpham (right)

Even though we all give ourlove, care, medication and lotsof hope, we do have our disap-pointments.

We were hoping againsthope that the pinkie (unfurredjoey) being carried by RotoPrincess (above) would sur-vive. However, as Mum wasbeing treated for wet bottom,the pinkie (which I called “TinyTot”) had the odds stackedagainst him.

On 13 April, I was so excitedto see the little foot protrudingfrom the pouch. But when Irealised there was no move-ment, my excitement soonturned to despair. It hurts tosee one of our babies die.

—Pam Whippy.

A different way to help the Koala Hospital

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For details, see: http://www.bcu.com.au/personal/savings_accounts/community_saver_account

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Bago Babe! www. koalahospital.org.au/adopt/

On Sunday 10 August 2008, our research group (withfinancial backing from Boehringer Ingelheim) put on anEducation Day at Rydges Port Macquarie to provideinformation to KPS personnel about our currentresearch on those samples collected from the KPSpatients. From KIDReG’s perspective, we were delight-ed by the number of people who attended, especiallythose carers who had travelled far. All of theresearchers and postgraduate students had a veryenjoyable day and were extremely pleased to meet andgreet so many KPS personnel and other carers.

Our PhD student, Dr Joanna Griffith, is now finishinga manuscript on one aspect of her research that sheconducted at KPS during 2005-2009.The manuscript is entitled, “The absorp-tion of enrofloxacin and marbofloxacinafter oral and subcutaneous administra-tion in the koala (Phascolarctoscinereus)”. Dr Griffith has in the interimpresented this work to a variety of nation-al audiences such as wildlife veterinari-ans and koala carers. Dr Griffith will sub-mit this manuscript to the prestigiousAmerican Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology andTherapeutics, which, if accepted will grant the workworldwide exposure. Naturally, KPS’s role in theresearch will be appropriately acknowledged. We arealso encouraging Dr Griffith to write up her additionalwork as an article for an Australian publication. An addi-tional two papers are also in preparation: one describingresponse to treatment with the above agents; and theother reviewing past treatments and their impact basedon past clinical records.

Additional samples collected during the above drugstudies are proving to be valuable in Quintin Lau’s post-

graduate studies of koala genetics and immunology. Weexpect to request some additional fresh blood samplesfrom koalas in the coming year, probably to be collectedby us on one or two occasions.

Boehringer Ingelheim has asked us to investigatewhether the analgesic and anti-inflammatory agentMeloxicam is having some therapeutic affect for koalasand we will attempt to work out its pharmacokinetic pro-file in this species. Dr Merran Govendir is the chiefinvestigator for this research and has previously spokento the KPS Hospital Supervisor, Cheyne Flanagan, aboutcollecting plasma samples from koalas that have beenmedicated with Metacam. We anticipate that this

Metacam project will result in outcomesfor making recommendations concerninghow best to use this agent to treat injuredkoalas. Unfortunately this work has beendelayed by the withdrawal of the PhD stu-dent associated with this project. But ouraim is to ask Cheyne to collect bloodsamples from Metacam-treated koalasand send these samples to the Universityfor processing, commencing Spring 2009

and throughout the next koala season. We would thenhope to measure the concentrations of Metacam inthese samples to determine if koalas are being treated atthe correct dose and dosage frequency.

KIDReG appreciates the wonderful co-operation fromall members of KPS and their commitment to finding outmore about how to manage more effectively diseases inone of our national treasures.

Report compiled by Paul Canfield, Mark Krockenberger,Merran Govendir, Damien Higgins and Susan Hemsley,principal academic researchers in KIDReG

Technically SpeakingReport on the research undertaken by the Koala Infectious Disease Research Group (KIDReG)of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, the University of Sydney, in collaboration with the KoalaPreservation Society of NSW Inc (KPS) at Port Macquarie, January 2008 to May 2009.

Dr Joanna Griffith

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My name is Bianca. I am 9 years oldand in 3rd class in primary school. Ilive in Cologne, Germany.

My uncle Jakob from Australia andmy cousin Anke came for a visit toGermany for my grandmother’s 80thbirthday. They brought, amongst otherthings, an adoption certificate for thekoala, “Bago Babe”.

I find that such an organisation isvery good. I have read about thedestruction of wildlife during the firesin Victoria and have also seen the pic-ture of injured and thirsty koalas. Thatmade me very sad and I am happy thatwe can help a little this way.

Phillip

These two kids fromCologne, Germany,have become theproud adopters oftwo wild koalas!

Bianca

My name is Phillip. I am 11 years oldand in 5th class at school. Like my sister, I am living in

Cologne, Germany. My koala’s nameis “Bonny Willy”. I am coming to visit my uncle in

Australia together with my grand-mother in October. We’ll be stayingwith my uncle in Port Macquarie and Ihope that I can come and visit thehospital. I am looking forward to it very, very

much, especially seeing the koalas.

In March 2009, staff from the KoalaHospital were requested to go down to theGippsland area of Victoria to give relief tosome of the exhausted vets, vet nursesand bushfire rescue workers who hadbeen working tirelessly since thebushfires began in mid-January2009. Fires had already decimateda r e a s

throughout Victoriawell before Black

Saturday (7 February 2009)occurred, with many wildliferescuers and wildlife carersclocking up hundreds of vol-unteer hours in search andrescue and treatment ofburnt wildlife. The KoalaHospital was called byColleen Wood fromSouthern Ash WildlifeShelter, home of the nowfamous “Sam” the koala.A team of four from the

Koala Hospital (CheyneFlanagan, Amanda Gordon,Helen Meers and PeterSchulties) flew to Victoriafor free—thanks to the gen-erosity of Virgin Blue air-lines. This generosity wasalso extended by theNational Geographic Society (USA) who paid forthe hire of a car and all accommodation whilst theteam were in Victoria. The Koala Hospital staffwere consequently accompanied by a film crew fromNational Geographic, who had been filming a docu-mentary at the Koala Hospital over the previous 18months.The team were asked to carry out both treat-

ments of burnt koalas at a triage centre and also towork alongside local wildlife personnel undertakingsearch and rescue of burnt wildlife.Our first day of search and rescue work was

behind a town called Boolarra, which only justmanaged to not be wiped out itself. As the fires sur-

KKooaallaa HHoossppiittaall sseennddssBBuusshhffiirree RReelliieeff TTeeaamm

rounding Boolarra were so intense, not much hadsurvived except for a small number of wallabies whohad managed to take refuge in a fish farm. Some ofthem had minor burns but others were not so fortu-nate. Thankfully we were able to deal with theseanimals quickly.After this, our first weekend was spent treating a

number of burnt koalas at the triage centre at theMorwell Veterinary Clinic. Alocal construction companyhad set up (on loan) a largeportable shed, which hadbeen fitted out with shelves,sinks, treatment facilities andareas to house the koalas.The local veterinary teamwere most grateful for theweekend off and left us to doall the work. As the Hospitalhas had many years’ experi-ence in dealing with burntwildlife, we all slotted quicklyinto the task—the only prob-lem was finding where all theequipment and medicationswere stored!!! Incidentally, the wonderful

vet who owned the veterinaryclinic was actually treatingburnt wildlife at the Morwelltriage centre on BlackSaturday and at the time was

unaware that, not only had his own house just burntdown, but he had lost four of his neighbours on thatday. What these people have experienced has beenhorrific and too hard to fathom.As the burnt koalas still needed daily treatment,

one of our team stayed on during the following weekto assist the vets and vet nurses. The other threemembers of the team, all fully trained and experi-enced in search and rescue of burnt wildlife workedalongside the local wildlife rescue teams. Thesewildlife rescuers were amazing, having undertakenliterally hundreds of hours of search and rescuesince mid-January. They were absolutely exhaustedbut still kept on working. They were most grateful

to support Victorian wildlife carers

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Cheyne holding a young koala joey.

for some assistance to take the pressure of them for ashort period. We only wish we could have broughtmore people down to help, but this had not been pos-sible. As working in burnt country can be very dan-gerous, there was certainly a lot paperwork andbureaucratic hurdles to overcome, which was quitefrustrating at times. Full confirmation only camethrough at the eleventh hour, so we were lucky to beallowed in ourselves!One of the worst areas where we carried out res-

cue work was a place called Callignee. The wholearea looked like a bombsite with stumps of trees andsections of trunks all facing up hill—such was theforce of the heat and wind that accompanied thefires. The soil was baked like white powder. Thewhole valley as far as the eye could see was just deci-mated. There were burnt homes everywhere. Threepeople had died on one of the roads we travelled on,with 29 people losing their lives across the whole val-

ley. For us, it was so hardto comprehend and thecontinual silence thatechoed across the valleysent chills down our spines.Nonetheless we did find

two koalas on this roadwho had taken refuge in asmall area of greenunburnt vegetation. Asthey were so high in thetrees we were unable tocheck their status.All throughout that

week we worked in numer-ous firegrounds throughoutthe Gippsland area. As thefires had been so intense

and the damage so huge, the majority of the wildlifewe located had all died during or not long after thefires had passed through. This was a situation com-monly found throughout Victoria with not a hugenumber of live animals being brought into care. Anumber that were brought in were so badly burntthat they had to be euthanased. It was not all badthough, as we did locate koalas, wombats, echidnas,goannas and wallabies all in good condition, eventhough their habitat was reduced to small pockets ofunburnt country.After nine days of working alongside these won-

derful caring Victorian wildlife people, we reluctant-ly had to head back to Port Macquarie, as we wereneeded back at the Koala Hospital. We found thewhole episode a very humbling experience: what wecontributed was but a tiny drop in the ocean com-pared to what so many wonderful other people haddone and were still doing throughout Victoria. Wealso found the generosity of the local people amazingand their positive spirit very uplifting. It made usproud to be Australians.

—The Koala Hospital Wildlife Rescue Team

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Amanda and Cheyne get hands-on in triage.

Helen, Peter and Cheyne look on as atreeclimber rescues a koala (out of shot).

Victorian wildlife rescuers scour the decimated landscape for surviving wildlife.

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During the previous12 months, our hard-working maintenanceteam has completedsome much neededprojects:

k Most recently ofthese was theconstruction ofthe car-port with acompacted floor.Also filling and consolidating the founda-tion and laying the pavers outside the edu-cation facility recreation area. We shouldsoon be ready to construct a bench andshelter on that site which will comply withNPWS guidelines—a project that has longbeen on the agenda.k We are fortunate to have on our team alicensed electrician who installed low-ener-gy lighting in the office and day room andan exhaust fan over the copier. Variousother items were also attended to, such asre-locating switches, points and wiring.k Following a recent recommendation by thepolice, a padlock and bolt have been fittedto the kiosk roller shutter. Also securitymesh was fitted to the large ICU windowfacing Lord St. Other security measures tobe implemented ASAP.k Thanks go to Bob McClure and theWestport Tennis Club for several rolls ofgrass matting that were donated a coupleof weeks ago.k Unfortunately, our efforts to retrieve othergrass matting from a property failed due tothe inclement weather and the soddencondition of the matting, not to mentionwet cow pats that had fouled the goods.Thanks to Ray Abbott for his part in all this.Perhaps if the property owner’s time per-mits—we will have better luck next time.

Thanks again to all the team for their efforts.

Brian WestobyMaintenance Co-ordinator

Ashley and Hamlyn Bev

Adoption requests have slowed back over thelast three months, after the record breakingtime in December/January. We have been pro-cessing about 25-30 adoptions a week recently.

We then had a sad duty when Bonny Firedied to contact as many of her adopters as pos-sible, offering them a 12 month replacementadoption. This activity resulted in about 70 peo-ple taking our offer up, which required us to re-enter all their data for the new adoption, pro-duce and post each new certificate and story.

A lot of adopters responded that their priori-ty was to support the Hospital, and did they notwant us to go to the extra expense of issuing anew certificate for another koala, and wouldwait until their renewal was due.

Unfortunately we also lost another of ouradoptable koalas during April—LindfieldHolden came into the Hospital after his thirdmotor vehicle accident, this time he did notrecover.

Jan Campbell has now been fully trained andis more than capable of handling the adoptionprocess, which is a big relief for me to havesomeone else involved. Between us we areworking about 20 hours per week on adoptions.We have been using the new system for somemonths and after a few teething problems, nowhave a better understanding of its capabilities.

A new business-size laminator has been pur-chased, to replace the small one we have beenusing, which has been working well, but over-heating on several occasions, as it was neverdesigned to process the quantity of work wehave been producing.

AAddoopptt--AA--WWiilldd--KKooaallaa report

MMaaiinntteennaannccee MMaaiinntteennaannccee rreeppoorrttrreeppoorrtt

Lorraine Best

Gum Tips Page 15

Since taking on the task of Education Coordinator at the last GeneralMeeting I have been busy getting to know the routine and I thankMaree for all the assistance she has provided.

In the past three months, the Koala Hospital has hosted visits bymore than 30 organisations including pre-booked coach groups,schools, Rotary exchange and seniors groups, in addition to the regulardaily “Walk and Talk”.

Walk and Talks are still being well attended, with the daily averagearound 30 people. I expect this number to drop in the coming weeks asthe weather cools and tourist numbers fall.

We have commenced a familiarisation program for new guides andhave three people preparing to take up duties in this field. This is notstrictly an Education matter, however, it is an activity which I havebeen involved in since its inception.

My thanks to all guides who have contributed to these activities,especially Maree, who has also accepted the duties of stand-inCoordinator when I was unavailable.

Geoff and Oxley Griffin

Education report

Geoff BestEducation Co-ordinator

I would like to drawyour attention to theBCU Community SaverScheme advertised inthis issue of Gum Tips.

It’s been a very busy 12 months for the Koala Hospital. Themedia, in particular the local media, have been very supportive. But the koalas have been the stars of the show. Media• We have had media relating to our grand old lady Birthday

Girl, Bonny Fire and Blaze, adoptions, dog attacks,Chlamydia, the ambulance, habitat, WYD Pilgrims, theKoala Rehabilitation Manual, Hibiscus Street, the VictorianBushfires, Family Fun Day, Open Day, and we have beenincluded in two leisure reports on Prime television through-out the last 12 months.

• NSW Tourism (Gabrielle Brewer) and PMHC Tourism havebeen fantastic in providing three Media Releases: oneabout Bonnie and her midnight tryst resulting in Blaze andtwo about adoptions: “Adopt A Koala For Xmas” and“Koalas Become International Stars”. The response wasamazing and brought us an unexpected but wonderfulwindfall. We are certainly on the world stage now.

VIP visitors• The NSW Minister for Tourism, Jodi McKay, on behalf of

the Mid North Coast Region Tourist Organisation, launchedthe “Natures Wonderland Campaign” at the hospital.

• The Regional Marketing Manager for NSW Tourism had atour around the hospital.

• The PMHC newAdministrator and his wife andAndrew Roach visited and left with a very favourableimpression.

Journalists• Susan Kelly from National Geographic, has spent a lot of

time at the hospital gathering information for a documen-tary. She also accompanied us to the Victorian Bushfiresand generously paid for our accommodation and car hire.Virgin Blue airlines were also very generous in coveringour airfares.

• Watch out in August, when we are going to be part ofGreg Grainger’s “Travel Oz” production on the ABC.

• We also had journalists from Open Road, New Idea, AAP,Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Hong Kong and Chinavisit the hospital.

• On behalf of the Hospital, I attended the workshop andlaunch of PMHC Tourism’s new brand for Port Macquarie“Come Out Of Your Shell”, as well as their workshop onthe regions tourism awards. We now hope to enter a sub-mission for the Ecotourism category. We have also beeninvited to participate in a display for the GPM BusinessAwards, their theme being Koalas.

Media & Comms Report

Helen Meers Media Co-ordinator

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Admission Name Reason Result

Hospital Activity Report6.11.00 Kempsey Carolina F Head trauma – motor vehicle accident Permanent resident22.10.04 Tractive Golfer M Underweight – scoliosis of spine Treating

Birthday Girl F Severe arthritis right hip Treating10.10.08 Settlement Point Bea F Fell 20m onto oyster rocks; home care28.12.08 Waugh Lord M Hind leg infection Released 03.04.0902.01.09 Dunbogan Col M Joey Orphaned – in home care Died 07.03.0912.01.09 Newport Bridge Gloria Motor Vehicle Accident – broken femur Released 04.03.0925.01.09 Somerset Sam M Chlamydia Euthanased 06.03.0931.01.09 Roto Princess F Chlamydia Euthanased 23.04.0902.02.09 Lake ACS Motor vehicle accident Released 03.04.0902.02.09 Salamander Bay Jed Joey Home reared - dehumanising Released 17.03.0923.02.09 Calwalla Munchkin Hind leg infection Released 07.04.0925.02.09 Lake Innes JB M Dog attack Died 05.03.0903.03.09 Salamander Bay Shazza J Home reared - dehumanising11.03.09 Kulai Rosemary Necrotic – sitting on ground Euthanased 11.03.0916.03.09 Ruins Way Margaret F Sitting on ground Released 25.03.0917.03.09 Golf Blackspot M Motor vehicle accident Self release 25.03.0920.03.09 Orchid Otto M Drowned in swimming pool Dead on Arrival20.03.09 Bangalay Susan F Chlamydia Released 01.05.0921.03.09 Ellenborough Kelly F Chlamydia Euthanased 24.03.0926.03.09 Tozer Tom M Motor vehicle accident Died 26.03.0930.03.09 Central Milton M Motor vehicle accident Released 07.04.0906.04.09 Grant Kim M Moribund Euthanased 07.04.0910.04.09 Emerald Downs David M On ground, debilitated Euthanased 15.04.0915.04.09 Hastings River Dr. Maree Right eye injury16.04.09 Crestwood Stuart M Conjunctivitis left eye Released 29.04.0917.04.09 Golf Jan F Conjunctivitis both eyes Released 06.05.0917.04.09 Kennedy Kirk M Motor vehicle accident Released 08.05.0918.04.09 Treeview Way Sam M Motor vehicle accident Died 19.04.0923.04.09 Lindfield Holden M Motor vehicle accident Euthanased 23.04.0901.05.09 Ocean Roy M Motor vehicle accident Dead on Arrival08.05.09 Coastland Steve M Motor Vehicle accident11.05.09 Park Tricia F Motor Vehicle accident15.05.09 Links Reg. M Dog attack Dead on Arrival21.05.09 O’Briens Ros F Possible fall from tree Euthanased 21.05.0922.05.09 Colonial Charlie M On ground (Chlamydia)24.05.09 Warrego Martin M Unknown Dead on Arrival27.05.09 Blackbutt Peter M Moribund – renal disease + dog attack Euthanased 27.05.0928.05.09 Lighthouse June F Chlamydia Dead on Arrival29.05.09 Oxley Bill M Motor vehicle accident Dead on Arrival29.05.09 Mill Millkip F Dog attack Died 30.05.0931.05.09 Kennedy Kirk M Motor Vehicle accident

Gum Tips Page 17

Barbara Barrett and Ocean Therese

Hospital Activity (March - May 2009)

02468101214161820

Treated Perm. residents Admitted

Released Euthanased DOA or died

March April May

Supervisor Cheyne Flanagan supervisor@koalahospital.org.auManagement CommitteePresident Bob Sharpham president@koalahospital.org.auVice President John Barber treasurer@koalahospital.org.auSecretary Beth Gabriel secretary@koalahospital.org.auTreasurer Herbie King vicepresident@koalahospital.org.auCo-ordinatorsHospital Peter Schulties coordinator@koalahospital.org.auHabitat Chris Rowlands habitat@koalahospital.org.auEducation Geoff Best education@koalahospital.org.auMedia Helen Meers media@koalahospital.org.au Maintenance Brian Westoby maintenance@koalahospital.org.auSouvenir Kiosk Hazell Sellers kiosk@koalahospital.org.auFriends of the Robyne Leadbeatter friends@koalahospital.org.auKoala Hospital

Adopt-a-Wild-Koala Lorraine Best adoption@koalahospital.org.au

Koala Preservation Society of NSW Inc. ABN 74060854479PO Box 236, Port Macquarie NSW 2444 AUSTRALIA. Telephone: (02) 6584 1522 Fax: (02) 6584 2399 Email: info@koalahospital.org.au Web: www.koalahospital.org.au DISCLAIMER The Koala Preservation

Society of NSW Inc. and the managementcommittee do not accept any liability for theresults of any actions taken or not taken, onthe basis of information given or discussedwith groups or other organised events, meet-ings and/or for information provided byspeakers or for any information published foror on behalf of the organisation, its organsand officers.

Any opinions expressed in reports/articlespublished in this newsletter are not to be nec-essarily taken as being the opinion of theSociety but rather the author’s personal opin-ion. No responsibility is accepted for the accu-racy of any information in the newsletter pub-lished in good faith as supplied to the Editor.The Editor reserves the right to use or edit anyarticle submitted for publication.

Gum Tips Gum Tips, the official newsletter ofthe Koala Preservation Society ofNSW Inc., is published quarterly.

Editor:Cheyne Flanagansupervisor@koalahospital.org.au

Designer:Samantha Carrollkoalawrangler@gmail.com

NNoottiiccee ooff FFuuttuurreeMMeeeettiinnggss10 July 2009 Management meeting14 August 2009 Management meeting16 August 2009 General meeting11 September 2009 Management meeting9 October 2009 Management meeting13 November 2009 Management meeting15 November 2009 General meeting11 December 2009 Management meeting

If undelivered please return to:Koala Preservation Society of NSW Inc.PO Box 236Port Macquarie NSW 2444 Australia

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