Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The President of Port
Stephens Koalas, Car-
mel Northwood, has
been awarded Port Ste-
phens Woman of the
Year. Kate Washington
MP and Carmel attend-
ed the NSW Women of
the Year Awards cere-
mony at the International
Convention Centre in
Darling Harbour.
“It was a huge honour to
be nominated and draw
attention to the dire plight
of our koala population.
One woman from each of
NSW’s 83 electorates
was awarded, but I was
the only one volunteering
to help wildlife.”
Carmel insists that it is a
great team effort behind
the progress being made
by Port Stephens Koalas
in attracting volunteers
who are all working hard
towards establishing a
koala care and educa-
tion facility in Anna Bay.
Negotiations with Port
Stephens Council and
other stakeholders are
progressing so keep an
eye on the local press
and our Facebook page
for updates.
Lead Story Headline
Extensive changes to sev-eral pieces of legislation affecting koalas and their habitat are underway in NSW. We have written a lengthy submission to the Office of Environment and Heritage, Department of Planning in regard to the proposed NSW Koala Strategy, changes to SEPP 44 (koala habitat), Priority Action Statements (PAS) amendments, Local Land Services Amendment Bill,
and the Crown Land Man-agement Amendment Bill. These are all in addition to the new Biodiversity Con-servation laws.
Key concerns include whether all these changes are being coordinated to mesh in with each other, the identification and long-term protection of wildlife corridors as well as funding for wildlife rehabilitation groups and habitat restora-tion works.
PORT STEPHENS KOALAS
Newsletter Issue
March 2017
Inside this issue
Dust and Breeze
2
Jeff teaches wild koala behaviour
2
Glen Oak Gavin break
3
Diesel in rehab 3
Koala teeth 3
Sammi in the wild at last!
4
Easter koala
adoption
4
27 May 2017
Save the date
4
Koala decline 5
Tree planting 5
Koala rescue information
6
Oakvale Farm sponsorship
6
Port Stephens Woman of the Year
NSW Legislative changes OEH plans to change wild-
life rehabilitation groups’
licencing arrangements to
an accreditation process.
Port Stephens Koalas has
developed a competency
based Carers and Rescuers
Training program. This
manual is currently in a
testing and implementation
phase. We hope it may be
used by other groups to
ensure consistently high
levels of care for koalas.
Dust and Breeze — Joeys with Julie
Breeze came to us in late January with
very crusty eyes from chlamydia, he
was found wandering around on the
ground unable to see. His mother was
nearby and she had the chlamydial wet
bottom. He was also 1800 grams and
still required his mother's milk and
medical treatment. His mother was also
rescued some days later (when she
came low enough in the tree for us to
reach her), but rejected Breeze when
we tried to reunite them.
Breeze took well to his milk formula
and has successfully recovered. He's
been weaned and has gained weight on
leaf alone before he moved to our reha-
bilitation facility last Sunday. Breeze
and Dust were in cages side by side;
now they’re sharing a tree together.
Breeze at the vet—note the branch he’s
holding onto instead of him becoming too
accustomed to human handling
Dust in his cage with Julie
Dust was found well and walking
on the ground in early January.
He remained in care because he
weighed 1800 grams, suggesting
he should still be taking his
mother’s milk. His mother was
not sighted when he was taken
by a concerned member of the
public. If anyone does see a
young koala (Joey), their mother
may not be far away, so it is al-
ways good to have a thorough
look for the mother if you are
concerned for a Joey’s safety and
wellbeing.
Dust has successfully continued
to take milk from us until he was
2500 grams, at which point he
was weaned and continued to
gain weight on leaf alone. He is
now residing in our rehabilitation
facility with another Joey before
he will be released into the bush.
Jeff teaches koala behaviour Gilchrist Jeff who came into care at 1.8kg with stress-related
gut problems, is doing extremely well. He was quite wild and
definitely wanted to avoid humans after being chased and
petted as he tried to move from one food tree to another in
Salamander Bay over the school holidays.
Jeff has been able to teach Sammi what wild koalas should
do, and became quite close to her. During their last week in
rehab together they were seen sleeping very close to each
other and one morning volunteers told me that Sammi
scratched him fondly on the back. How cute!
Now that Sammi is released, Jeff has the opportunity to
teach Diesel proper koala behaviour too. We believe that
Jeff’s immature gut has recovered, judging by the number
and shape of his scat (poop). Hopefully he’ll soon be ready
for release so hurry up young Diesel and become wild again
so you can be released together.
Glen Oak Gavin break
Glen Oak Gavin is a survivor of a
motor vehicle accident. He
suffered a compound fracture of
his femur and had to be rescued
by a tree-climber. This is typical
of a koala hit by a car—they can
climb with a broken limb, but
when the adrenalin wears off
they can barely move and the
wound may become infected
attracting fly strike and a slow
painful death.
Gavin was lucky we were called
to rescue him. It would have
been easier if they had thrown
a towel over him and kept him
on the ground.
He’s a challenging big guy in a
lot of pain who is giving his
carers a scare every time they
have to move him into a clean
basket because he’s not al-
lowed to move until the bone
sets. He has a long reach, long
sharp claws and teeth and is
very quick to lash out.
Diesel is in the same yard (and
shares the big tree) with Jeff.
If Diesel comes on quickly, the
two of them may be released
together. This will give them
a better chance of survival in
the wild, but this isn’t always
possible when we often have
only one joey from an area.
NPWS licence rules dictate
release circumstances, includ-
ing the distance away from
their rescue location.
If you’ve ever wondered how
much love and attention is given
to a hand-raised koala just feast
your eyes on our carer’s little girl
saying farewell to Diesel. There
will be no more cuddles for this
little guy now that he’s in reha-
bilitation to become dehuman-
ised. He’s still been sleeping
down in the gunyah (not up in
the tred) in the afternoon during
his first week in rehab so he’s
not ready for the wild yet.
Have a look in this koala’s mouth. The
vet has a hard stick between the molars
to estimate his age by looking at the
wear on his teeth. See the long front
incisors top and bottom? They can
pierce skin through thick welding gloves.
The ridges on the roof of the mouth help
to swallow chewed leaf, and a long soft
tongue grips each leaf to nip off and eat.
Eucalyptus oil turns the molars black but
the teeth are healthy in this adult male.
Joey Diesel enters rehab
Koala teeth
Save the date Sat, 27 May 2017
A Port Stephens Koalas fundraising dinner will be held at Hori-
zon’s Golf resort on Saturday night, 27 May 2017. Dinner tick-
ets are $60 per head for a 2 course gourmet meal with quality
raffles and an auction on the night. If you would like to attend,
or know someone who might donate a handsome prize, please
email [email protected].
Sammi’s release into the wild after 6 months in care
Sammi has been a textbook
case since coming into care on
28/9/16 after her mother was hit
and killed on Clarencetown Rd.
She weighed just 832 grams and
kept me awake most of the first
night yipping for her mum.
It only took a couple of days for
her to settle into feeding from a
syringe three hourly, then four
hourly, then four times per day.
The lack of sleep meant I need-
ed afternoon nanna naps and I
slept in a separate bed from my
husband not to disturb him.
Sammi loved being most active
between 2am and 4am.
At first Sammi slept in a cot with
a lid so she couldn't’ escape and
played on branches and ropes in
our patio. At 1.6kg she went into
a cage outside and started play-
ing at nights in the bottle brush
trees. I learned to call her down
making a noise she reacted
to—there’s a video on Port
Stephens Koalas YouTube
if you would like to hear it.
Just before Christmas Sam-
mi moved into the rehab to
be weaned. Here she is
with Vanessa, who rescued
her, enjoying a rare visit
when Vanaessa brought
leaf from Clarence Town for
Sammi to eat.
Sammi was dehumanised in
rehab with the only contact
being volunteers changing
leaf. With autumn starting
and the breeding season
over, Sammi was released
at Vanessa’s 250 acre bush
block that adjoins state for-
est and has other koalas
living there for her to join.
Best wishes dear Sammi for
lots of joeys. Stay safe.
Easter adoption — fundraiser We’ve had 6 joeys in care over
this summer—a record. We are
so very pleased to have built two
rehabilitation yards last year so
we can dehumanise them here
rather than sending them away
to Port Macquarie where the leaf
and climate is different. Four
joeys at a time have been in re-
hab together for months. Quite a
few volunteers have been
helping to pick and change
their leaf, and pick up their
scat (poo) to keep the yard
clean and make sure they
are eating well.
To cover the costs of milk
formula, syringes, medi-
cines and fuel, please adopt
a koala and donate today.
Adopt a koala at www.portstephenskoalas.com.au
Koala Rescues 2013 — 2016
Koalas Disease Dog Fire Vehicle Unsuitable
Environment Other Total
Port Stephens LGA
2013
Rescue or Dead 22 4 7 32 77 17 159
Released 9 2 5 8 74 8 106
Deaths 13 2 2 24 3 9 53
2014
Rescue or Dead 15 7 0 32 62 15 131
Released 12 2 0 9 58 7 88
Deaths 3 5 0 23 4 8 43
2015
Rescue or Dead 12 3 0 21 40 18 94
Released 8 2 0 3 38 8 59
Deaths 4 1 0 18 1 9 33
In Care 1 1 2
2016
Rescue or Dead 14 5 0 27 43 8 97
Released 7 2 0 9 39 5 62
Deaths 6 3 0 17 2 3 31
In Care 1 1 2 4
What do these statistics show? Looking down the columns, the number of koalas released after being treated for
disease is pretty high. Success often depends on how advanced the disease is by the time the sick koala is rescued.
If a koala is attacked by a dog, survival depends how quickly we get them into care, flush the wounds and start them
on antibiotics. A puncture wound turns septic within hours. If the koala is shaken it can rupture internal organs.
Vehicle strikes are all too common and should be preventable if we all drove more carefully between dusk and dawn.
Deaths are common if the koala is hit at more than 80kmh.
Koalas found too close to busy roads, in people’s gardens, non-food trees, etc are classified as Unsuitable Environ-
ment. Many survive when we relocate them to a safer place. We are using “Other” less often as it doesn’t tell us
much at all except the rescuer didn’t use the other classifications. Not many fires thankfully.
Overall the number of koalas rescued each year is dwindling as the overall population declines. Drive carefully!
Koala habitat working bee and tree plantings
Port Stephens Council is running several work-
ing bees on koala habitat locations over the
next month from 9.30am—10.30am:
Please meet on site in appropriate clothing.
Eastern Bagnalls Beach (Monday 3 April)
Salamander Bay Sports Complex (Wednesday 12 April)
Hannah Reserve next to IGA in Anna Bay (Thursday 27 April)
KOALA IN DANGER — RESCUE INFORMATION
PO Box 60
Anna Bay NSW 2316
Australia
ABN 27 614 265 833
NPWS Licence MWL000100291
www.portstephenskoalas.com.au
Rescue line 0418628483
PORT STEPHENS KOALAS
See our koalas in care on Facebook!
www.facebook.com/portstephenskoalas
VISION STATEMENT - Port Stephens Koalas aims to
provide the world best practice standards of care to sick,
injured and orphaned koalas to give them the best
opportunity to be returned to the wild, while supporting
research and collaboration to preserve their habitat to
ensure that future generations may continue to enjoy
seeing wildlife in their natural setting.
We would like to thank Oakvale Farm and Fauna World for sponsoring the costs of
printing this newsletter.
Koalas in care who are on strong antibiotic treatment, or develop diarrohea, often
need to have their gut bacteria restored by being fed with some healthy poo! Don’t
worry, we mix a little honey and water with it. Actually, they don’t mind it, if they
need it. Funny koalas! Oakvale have been very helpful over the years by supplying us
with healthy koala pellets.
Did you know that at Oakvale you can pat a koala? There are kangaroos and many
other animals. It’s a great place to take the family and overseas visitors.
Oakvale Drive, Salt Ash, NSW. (02) 4982 6222 www.oakvalefarm.com.au
Newsletter sponsorship
Sick Koalas come to the ground or stay low in trees. They may have brown dirty bottoms or crusty weepy eyes.
Cars are the biggest killer of koalas. Be aware at dusk and dawn, a popular time for their movements. It's not a crime
to hit a koala, but please report it by calling our rescue number. If it is safe to do so, move the koala to the side of the road, there may be a live joey inside the mother's pouch. Joeys have been saved by this action.
Attacks from dogs are too common. Just one small bite can become infected and kill a koala. Keep your dog on a
lead in parks and restrained away from gum trees at night.
Rescue number: 0418 628 483. Store it in your phone. Call us if you are in any doubt of a koala's well
being. We are available 24/7.
Suitable environment may be questionable. On or near busy roads. No apparent gum trees in the vicinity. Vulner-
able to other hazards such as dogs and swimming pools.
Ideally, restraining a koala should be done without handling, avoiding injury to yourself. You may end up with scars if
you try to handle koalas. A plastic laundry basket or a large towel or blanket can be used to place over the koala to
