Treetops News - Friends of the Koala Inc. · Treetops News Page 1 Summer/Autumn 2018 ... full of dirt, possibly due to a tummy upset from poor diet, or perhaps she was just very hungry

Treetops News Page 1 Summer/Autumn 2018

Call Koalas-in-Trouble 6622 1233 24hr Rescue Hotline Report sightings online at www.friendsofthekoala.org

Treetops NewsVolunteers working for Koala Rescue, Rehabilitation & Release Research Advocacy Education Habitat Restoration

by Susannah Keogh, Koala Care Coordinator

The sad plight of our furry little friends and many a

heart-breaking story are well known to koala

lovers, but as an experienced home carer, I

honestly don’t know a story more tragic than

Charlotte’s – a sweet little joey found sitting in the

middle of Tomewin Mountain Rd with cars driving

over her.

Miraculously, Charlotte hadn’t been hit when a lovely

couple pulled over and bundled her up. She was

obviously not well, so after calling our Koala Rescue

Hotline, the couple took her to Currumbin Wildlife

Hospital. Vets Mick and Monique stayed back late to

receive her and ensure she was okay with a full workup

of bloodwork, ultrasounds and x-rays - the minimum

veterinary care we give every koala.

Weighing only 1kg, Charlotte was very skinny, with

brown, brittle fur and quite unresponsive. What had

this poor girl endured to be in such terrible condition?

Over the first of many visits to Currumbin, we

established that she had been abandoned

approximately two weeks earlier and probably not

eaten properly since then. Her mouth and belly were

full of dirt, possibly due to a tummy upset from poor

diet, or perhaps she was just very hungry. Her body

condition was rated 3/10 with barely any muscles in her

arms, and a protruding spine and hips. Saliva on her

rump indicated she’d been in an altercation with a dog,

but remarkably escaped without any major wounds.

Except for early stage Chlamydial conjunctivitis and a

totally adorable overbite, she lacked any physical issues

making her a candidate for home care, so she started a

new life with me. Charlotte had a good appetite for leaf

which is always promising, but we discovered she was

immobile, always staying perched in one spot. Joeys

are usually full of beans, climbing and exploring

everything, so this was very unusual. She didn’t like

being picked up or handled as if it was painful. More

visits to Currumbin revealed she had mild hip dysplasia

which explained her refusal to walk when encouraged,

or even try climbing out of her basket.

Then, after two weeks in home care, Charlotte got a

buddy. None other than our little previously tick-

infested, blood-transfused champion Mafeking, who

was found crying under a clothes line! After catching

pneumonia and losing weight, Mafeking was back for

intensive home care, and it changed everything for

Charlotte! (Cont’d. page 4)

Besotted road orphan Charlotte is inspired tostart moving again

Summer/Autumn 2018

A few weeks after her road ordeal, orphan Charlotte is contented

with a belly full of age-formulated joey milk and well-loved leaf.

Please help us to prevent a local extinction. Find out how from our stories inside



Never a better opportunity to sell our incredible group and its achievements by Lorraine Vass, Patron

As recently appointed Patron with 18 years

of involvement in Friends of the Koala, I can

see our work is not well understood by the

public, or government.

Let’s not forget, first and foremost we’re a licensed

wildlife rehabilitation organisation, one of 28 licensed

operators across the state and one of four specialising in

koalas.

Given the NSW government’s current review of the

voluntary wildlife rehabilitation sector and contentious,

new alterations to land-clearing laws, any change to the

environment in which Friends of the Koala operates is yet

to unfold.

Friends of the Koala and similar organisations are

founded on the work of wildlife volunteers. Not only do

they bring environmental benefit, but social and

economic benefit too, so it’s doubtful the government

would destabilise the sector.

Increased land-clearing however, would put more

pressure on our precious koalas with more coming into

care - if the public understand who we are and what we

do.

Encouragingly, as an incredible group of about 130

volunteers with achievements including over 5000 koalas

admitted into care, 1,200 released back into the wild and

152,000 koala food trees distributed across the Northern

Rivers, there’s never been a better opportunity to sell our

story.

New Burribi Education Centre plays host to environmental workshops

by Mark Ambrose, Risk Management Coordinator

As a contemporary facility for koala

education, it was great to see Burribi

turned into the ideal venue for a botany

workshop.

Entitled ‘Botany - Getting Started’, the workshop was held

on February 2 by long-standing Lismore environmental

consultancy Greenloaning Biostudies.

Presented by Alison Martin, Director of Greenloaning and

botanist Dr. Kathy Owen, attendees included graduate

ecologists, bush regenerators and amateur naturalists

with several travelling from as far away as the Gold

Coast.

Alison and Kathy were both impressed with the facilities

at Burribi, especially the interactive whiteboard, and

expressed an interest in hiring the centre again for future

workshops. Feedback from the participants was also very

positive and some enjoyed a brief tour of FOK's Koala

Care Centre during their lunch break.

A botany workshop held at FOK’s new Burribi Education Centre in

Lismore, set in bushland overlooking our Koala Care Centre.

On February 4, 2018 Yasmin Cabôt

and partner, Tim Butcher

welcomed sleeping beauty Lila Jade

into the world. We are delighted for

them both and wish them all the

best. Little Lila we hear sleeps as

much as a koala and that can be up

to 20 hours a day!

Congratulations to Training and Education

Officer Yasmin on the birth of her bub




Koalas in double trouble with carsA rise of over 40% in Koala Care Centre admissions to

430 koalas for 2017 financial year (FY) and a mortality

rate of 78% among them shows that although disease

was the leading cause of mortality as usual, car hits

nearly doubled with 86 recorded in 2017 FY versus 44

in 2016 FY (Figure 1). Weather is considered to be a

contributing factor to this result. A brief, mild winter

and early Spring are likely to have caused an early start

to koala mating and territory claiming. This is a time

of increased ground movement for koalas, and koalas

on the ground means koalas in trouble!

Arranging the best care for rescued koalas is a huge

job. “Some days it can be crazy with koala after koala

coming in,” says Susannah Keogh our volunteer Care

Coordinator.

“With four koalas coming in, we have to try and organise

what we are going to do and where we are going to take

them - one to our Keen Street Vet and three to

Currumbin Wildlife Hospital as they have more facilities

and staff. Any trauma automatically goes to Currumbin as

we don’t have facilities to hold koalas recovering from

trauma.”

The role of Care Coordinator is highly responsive to

rescue events and changing koala needs. It involves

frequent attendance and assessment of newly rescued

koalas, regular updates with colleagues, ongoing health

assessments, determining an optimal care strategy for

each koala and helping to answer Rescue Hotline calls.

Susannah manages the care of 300 koalas brought into

our Care Centre annually, but last year a spike in

admissions saw 430 koalas in need of help from carers

and veterinarians. Woefully, only one in six was fit to

return to the wild in 2016, so the Care Coordinator’s role

is charged with difficult decisions. “It’s always a joint

decision and never made by one person, even the vet”.

With a wealth of practical experience gained rapidly over

six years, working in close consultation with specialist

koala carers, veterinarians and hospital staff, and with

thanks to incredible mentors, Susannah is guided by

doing what is best for each koala. “It’s really sad. It’s part

of the care we have to give, and the responsibility of

giving them what they need is never easy when it means

ending their life.”

It is tempting to think euthanising a koala may be the

toughest part of the job, but it can be tougher explaining

such decisions and complexities surrounding koala

suffering to those involved. Furthermore, “dealing with

naivety in terms of what koalas need can be frustrating,”

says Susannah. Recently a small joey was found by a

person who kept it at home for a week and was feeding it

on cow’s milk thinking this was the right thing to do, but

the joey died as a result.

Although a thankless role at times, the rewards are great

– friendship, learning and most importantly, successful

releases. “Once you’re involved with koalas and learn how

difficult they can be, talking to someone else who really

understands, and revelling in the joys of a koala release is

wonderful,” says Susannah.

Susannah Keogh on an emergency visit to Currumbin Wildlife

Hospital with joey Fraser and Dr. Camille checking his breathing.

An inside view of the demanding role of Koala Care Coordinator




Third-year, Bachelor of Animal

Science student Gianna Kramer

(right) who is majoring in Wildlife

Management at the University of

New England undertook an

internship placement with us.

Gianna’s course requires her to

complete 12 weeks of practical

experience with relevant

organisations for a maximum of four

weeks at any one place. Her first

placement was with Friends of the

Koala, and she finished on March 2.

Gianna was well-liked and her

contribution was significant.

On her experience, Gianna says she

gained “valuable educational insights

into issues affecting koalas, and the

care and management they require”.

“During my time with Friends of the

Koala I rescued koalas, visited the

Keen Street Vet in Lismore and went

to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital with

joeys Mafeking and Charlotte.”

“My daily routine included feeding

supplements to certain koalas,

checking on their health and

wellbeing, helping to weigh them and

in the afternoons, cleaning their

enclosures and providing them with

fresh leaf. I met a lot of passionate

and dedicated volunteers who used

their knowledge and experience to

make sure my time with them was

not only rewarding on a personal

level, but also very relevant and

informative to my university course. A

big thank you to everyone who made

my experience so special.”

And thank you to Gianna along with

all of our wonderful volunteers for

the tireless contribution that they

make to koala conservation.

(Charlotte’s story cont’d.)

Without sufficient movement for any quality of life, her

prognosis wasn’t good. Even captive koalas need to climb,

and after Mafeking’s arrival, that’s just what Charlotte did!

Very slowly and gingerly at first, she moved up the perch

to sit with him. Then she started to do this daily, getting

just close enough to sit and stare at him longingly. It was

wonderful to watch. Slowly, she began to climb between

perches using leaf branches to support herself. Soon,

besotted by Mafeking, Charlotte was able to reach him

regardless of location - but always avoided the ground!

At hospital, we spent more and more time encouraging

her to walk. Muscle weakness combined with pain were

too much at first. Her little legs just collapsed under her

tiny frame. Slowly though, she took small steps,

occasionally collapsing, but showing determination day

after day, she just kept getting better. Now in her

seventh week, she walks with great confidence. Her gait

isn’t perfect and she hasn’t mastered walking backwards,

but we are so very proud of her progress. She also has a

huge appetite, loves her specially-formulated joey milk,

but only takes a few drops at a time which makes feeding

time a long, drawn out event!

With additional testing and x-rays, we concluded that

Charlotte may have fractured her pelvis causing an

inability to walk and slow recovery. She’s still in treatment

for Chlamydia and a mild bout of pneumonia, but her

health is otherwise remarkably good. Her body score is

closer to 7/10 which far exceeds anything I thought she

could achieve and her prognosis is much better. With

Charlotte’s now constant stalking, Mafeking may not be as

enamoured by her intense curiosity and tenaciousness as

everyone else, but I’m so grateful that his presence

inspired Charlotte to start moving again.

Animal Science student kicks off practicalexperience via an Internship with us

Charlotte practicing her climbing skills as she stalks her new

companion Mafeking (above) with whom she is besotted.



Recently appointed President for Friends of

the Koala and private land holder, Dr. Ros

Irwin (left) and her husband Bill have

created a soft release site in Caniaba for

orphaned joeys to learn about their

surroundings and survival in the wild.

“Building a juvenile koala’s experience in the wild is really

important in the progression to successful release. They

need to develop their muscles and climbing ability. Many

come into the centre as joeys, either abandoned or found

clinging to their dead mother. In the wild they leave their

mother’s back at between 12-18 months,” says Ros.

The Koala Kindy is part of a plantation comprising 180

trees with 57 koala food trees secured inside the kindy.

The trees, planted five years ago by Ros and Bill, offer

tender leaf and good canopy for shade.

Eight juveniles, who were orphans when taken into care,

have been in the kindy for up to five weeks. Five of those

- three females (Chrissie, Ennew and Trouble) and two

males (Fraser and Winston), were released successfully

into the wild last year. The other two – Triumph and

Buster, lost weight and were taken back into care for

further treatment. It’s now looking unlikely that Triumph

will be releasable and we’ll be exploring other options for

him in the immediate future.

The two current residents of Koala Kindy are Buster and

Sonny, both previous orphans about 18 months old now,

with Buster looking good again and back for a further

trial. After sharing a run in rehabilitation, one of the most

endearing aspects of their behaviour today, is that

despite a choice of 57 trees to range between

individually, most of the time Buster and Sonny like to

huddle closely together in one tree, or in a tree close to

each other. Provided they don’t lose weight or develop

any symptoms of disease they will be moved to a soft

release site near where they were rescued in preparation

for release into the wild.

The Koala Kindy is part of a broader conservation effort

by Ros and Bill that keeps them busy in retirement. Prior

to retirement, Ros had a successful career in federal

government with roles including Corporate Services

Manager for the Northern Rivers regional office of a

department with 600+ employees, plus over 17 years of

local government experience, as well as being a Lecturer

at Southern Cross University for 16 years and gaining a

research PhD in 2009. Now she dedicates much time to

the role of President for Friends of the Koala.

Ros is well qualified with the skill and expertise to ensure

Friends of the Koala moves forward successfully into the

future. With a depth of experience in policy and change

management, she brings a practical focus to the role,

working with people and helping the volunteer

organisation to operate effectively and efficiently.

She and Bill have a strong focus on koalas including

answering the 24hr Koala Rescue Hotline two or three

nights a week, and carrying out rescues in their local

area.

Of their voluntary work with Friends of the Koala and

their contribution towards environmental conservation,

Ros says, “It just reinforces how lucky we are to be able to

do what we do - things that we can feel happy about in

terms of what we did with our retirement”.

Koala Kindy gives orphaned joeys better chanceof wild survival under President’s watchful eye

Despite having 57 food trees in Koala Kindy to range between

individually, 18-month-old juveniles Sonny (above) and Buster

(below) love to huddle together in one tree.



Koala food tree removal is always a terrifying risk by Susannah Keogh, Care Coordinator

After receiving a rescue call advising a Mum and Bub

had come down with a tree being felled in

Goonellabah, despite an experienced spotter on hand,

reuniting them wasn’t easy.

The baby was thrown from Mum’s back during the fall

and once they hit the ground, Mum, full of adrenaline and

desiring safety, ran up the first tree she could find leaving

bub on the ground.

With a round head and tiny ears, the baby was named

Monkey as he was very active and quite cheeky. He was

rushed to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital for assessment and

thankfully, nothing was broken, but he did have serious

bruising across his back which restricted his movement

for a few days. He stayed in care for four days while we

tried desperately to capture his mother. Over that time,

he was difficult to feed and jumped at any small noise –

he was a nervous wreck. Meanwhile, Mum stayed at the

top of the tree she’d climbed, scared by the experience.

On the fourth day, at 3am of course, Monkey’s Mum was

finally caught in our trap. She was a big, strong girl so we

called her Chunky and she was even more petrified than

her joey. Once we had established Chunky didn’t have

any obvious injuries and had no trouble climbing, we

attempted to reunite her with Monkey. (Cont’d. page 7)

Terrified and separated after being thrown from a felled tree,

Chunky and joey Monkey were reunited after Mum was captured.

School girls show striking entrepreneurial flair to help save koalas

by Aliison Kelly, Secretary

Maddy Paice (left) and Teal Perry (right) from

Bangalow Public School have joined forces to save

koalas by raising almost $700 in an array of activities.

Determined to help koalas by raising funds for Friends of

the Koala, Maddy started off running a stall in Newrybar

with her friend Sophie Fernswright and raised over $150.

They sold old toys and cakes they baked with their

parents while Maddy played her flute. This inspired Teal

to join in by asking her friends to give money instead of

presents at her recent birthday. Teal and Maddy then

teamed up to spend a morning busking at Newrybar

Village where Maddy played the flute and Teal charmed

passers-by into donating with her infectious smile.

At school assembly, the girls talked passionately about

their efforts to help save koalas, and now the whole

school is putting loose change into a new donation jar.

The girls plan to talk with the school about planting koala

food trees in the school grounds with the funds raised.

At home, Maddy helps to manage 18 pet chickens and

donates funds raised from selling her ‘Freedom Eggs’.

Mum Nikki said, “Maddy is learning how to run the family

chickens like a job where she can learn the ins and outs of

a small business, from buying their food to keeping

accounts on a spreadsheet.”

The combined effort of the girls, their friends, family and

school has raised close to $700 for Friends of the Koala.

It’s a wonderful effort, and we really value all of the

support, as well as the determination of such inspirational

young people to help save koalas. Everything counts!



Across December and January, a

total of 49 koalas were admitted

to our Care Centre which operated

through Christmas and New Year.

These admissions, extrapolated to

projections for 2018 and compared

with limited koala population

estimates suggest around 10% of

koalas could be rescued in need of

care in 2018 mainly due to disease,

car strikes and dog attacks.

Lismore LGA represented 63% of

admissions (graph below) probably

due to FOK’s physical location and

relative size of the koala population -

estimated at around 1800 for part of

the LGA†. Ballina, Byron and Tweed

LGAs represented 30% of admissions

with estimated koala populations of

Ballina 285-380 (whole shire), Byron

240 (limited coastal area) and Tweed

144 (limited coastal area)‡. With 300

Care Centre admissions forecast

overall for 2018, projected

admissions for the four LGAs of 276

would represent an average of 11.0%

of koalas coming into care based on

a combined koala population

estimate of 2,517 - as an initial

calculation (table below). Byron and

Tweed had the highest admission

rates of 15.0% and 16.7%

respectively as a percentage of their

limited population estimates.

Numerous variables could affect

these rates including extent and

reliability of population estimates,

exact source location of admissions,

increased pressure in coastal areas

and higher public intervention. We

can however assume, the number of

koalas in trouble exceeds those we

know of and share stories about!

Admissions by LGA - Koala Care Centre

Total of 49 koalas (Dec ’17 & Jan ’18)

Lismore (63%)

Byron (12%)

Ballina (10%)

Tweed (8%)

Kyogle (4%)

Richmond (2%)

Call Koalas-in-Trouble 6622 1233 24hr Rescue Hotline. Report sightings online at friendsofthekoala.org

(Chunky & Monkey’s story cont’d.)

After a few very nervous moments,

Monkey knew exactly who Mum was

but she was scared and jumped

away from him in fear. After a few

hours, they had re-established their

bond with Monkey happily suckling,

head inside Chunky’s pouch. Taken

to Currumbin the next day, Chunky

was assessed as dehydrated, hungry

and with some minor injuries from

the fall, but mainly terrified which led

to inappetence and significant

weight loss. She also developed mild

Chlamydia and was treated with

antibiotics. Slowly her nervousness

decreased until she became quite a

calm patient.

Meanwhile Monkey was happy as a

clam – with his Mum back, nothing

else mattered. Chunky is still in care

at the centre (with her fluffball son)

and if she continues to improve, we

hope to release them to the wild

soon, safe and healthy.

Around 10% of our iconic koalas introuble and needing help in 2018

Koala Rescues Dec 2017 - Jan 2018

Date Name Reason LGA

1-Dec Voltz Injured Lismore

2-Dec Shonte Disease Tweed

4-Dec Ti-Tree Disease Byron

4-Dec Alba Disease Lismore

6-Dec Gwendoline Orphaned Ballina

6-Dec Walton Disease Byron

6-Dec Randle Injured Lismore

8-Dec Macki Hit by car Lismore

8-Dec Helix Disease Lismore

9-Dec Bettee Do Unknown Lismore

10-Dec Jaxy Disease Lismore

14-Dec Alira Disease Lismore

15-Dec Mayu Disease Lismore

18-Dec Shadow Disease Lismore

19-Dec Stubby Disease Lismore

19-Dec Tomkin Unknown Lismore

20-Dec Ambrose Disease Ballina

22-Dec Bellacor Disease Byron

23-Dec Victoria Geriatric Byron

23-Dec Susan Disease Kyogle

23-Dec Wulfmother Hit by car Lismore

23-Dec Beowulf Hit by car Lismore

23-Dec Baytzee Disease Lismore

24-Dec Putt Hit by car Tweed

27-Dec Zuni Disease Lismore

28-Dec Adrian Disease Lismore

28-Dec Tilly Disease Lismore

28-Dec Ed Disease Lismore

3-Jan Vision Orphaned Lismore

4-Jan Desi Dog attack Ballina

5-Jan Mindy Hit by car Byron

5-Jan Paulini Disease Lismore

6-Jan Uni Unknown Lismore

7-Jan Ohm Disease Byron

9-Jan Digitron Hit by car Lismore

12-Jan Eagle Dog attack Lismore

15-Jan Aicul Hit by car Richmond

16-Jan Booerie Hit by car Lismore

17-Jan Cleo Injured Lismore

17-Jan Turbo Disease Lismore

21-Jan Zowo Orphaned Ballina

21-Jan Osito Disease Lismore

26-Jan Bennolong Disease Lismore

27-Jan Hazel Disease Kyogle

27-Jan Nooky Disease Lismore

28-Jan Bluey Hit by car Ballina

28-Jan Charlotte Orphaned Tweed

30-Jan Gromit Disease Lismore

30-Jan Hird Disease Tweed

† Koala Habitat & Population Assessment Lismore LGA (part) (biolink, 2017)‡ Ballina Shire Koala Management Strategy 2017 (Ballina Shire Council, 2017)

Draft Byron Coast Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management (Byron Shire Council, 2015)Tweed Coast Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management 2015 (Tweed Shire Council, 2015)

LGA

Koala

Population

Estimate

FOK Admissions

Dec '17 - Jan '18

(2 mths)

Projected Annual

Admissions 2018

(2mths x 6)

Projected Annual

Admission Rate 2018

(% of Pop'ln. Est.)

Lismore (part of LGA area) 1800 31 186 10.3%

Ballina (shire median) 333 5 30 9.0%

Byron (coastal area only) 240 6 36 15.0%

Tweed (coastal area only) 144 4 24 16.7%

Total 2517 46 276 Average 11.0%




Koala Care, Research & Education Centre23 Rifle Range Road East Lismore NSW 2480

Koala Care Centre (02) 6621 4664 24hr Koala Rescue Hotline (02) 6622 1233

[email protected] friendsofthekoala.org

© 2018 Friends of the Koala Inc. Ι Licensed by Office of Environment & Heritage NSW to rescue, rehabilitate and release koalas License No. MWL000100225 Ι ABN 69322819171 Ι Fundraising Authority CFN 17840

by Julie Reid, Vice President

When Derek Skingle (right) bought his 30ha property

at Goolmangar in the Jiggi Creek Catchment in 1989 he

knew he had something special. Being from mother

England, Derek never imagined that one day he would

have Koalas living on his piece of Australian bush.

The property ‘Sandy Pinch’ is in an area of high

conservation value that is home to threatened species

and abundant wildlife. In 2006 Derek commenced the

process of applying for a Voluntary Conservation

Agreement (VCA) with the Nature Conservation Trust

(NCT) to ensure the land was protected well beyond his

lifetime. This resulted in eighteen hectares being put

aside for protection.

A Voluntary Conservation Agreement is a joint agreement

between landowners and the Minister for the

Environment. The voluntary agreement provides

permanent protection for the special features of the land.

The area under the agreement is registered on the title of

the land ensuring that if the land is sold, the agreement

and management requirements remain in place.

It wasn’t until 2010 that Derek’s sister (a keen bird lover

known as a 'twitcher' who travels to see rare birds)

followed her gaze upward and saw the first recorded

koala on the property. In the mid 1990’s Derek planted a

eucalypt woodland on the edge of his natural forest. This

now established woodland includes Forest Red Gum,

Tallowwood and Flooded Gum eucalypts which are

preferred by koalas, and it has become a popular haunt

for our iconic Australian, marsupial koalas which are more

often heard than seen.

The new Conservation Agreement (CA) arrangement is

still a popular way of acknowledging and protecting our

unique fauna and their natural habitat. If you have koalas

and vegetation on your property that you would like to

protect, consider applying for a CA. We cannot rely on

koala habitat being protected as development and land

clearing pressures lead to their demise.

Koala populations are in decline across NSW and QLD,

such that they are listed as Vulnerable by the federal

government under the Commonwealth Environment

Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. To

ensure koalas survive in the wild for generations to come,

they need more perpetually protected land in the hands

of private ownership.

Derek said, “There’s enormous satisfaction and

gratification from doing this and I wouldn’t hesitate in

recommending it to others. It’s life affirming - go ahead!”

The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) was

established with the commencement of the Biodiversity

Conservation Act 2016 and is responsible for assisting

landowners to get protective mechanisms on their

property to protect the natural assets in perpetuity.

For more info visit www.bct.nsw.gov.au.

More land in private ownership needs perpetualprotection to ensure koala survival in the wild

Documents

Treetops News - Friends of the Koala Inc. · Treetops News Page 1 Summer/Autumn 2018 ... full of dirt, possibly due to a tummy upset from poor diet, or perhaps she was just very hungry