KOALA RESCUE

 I was in the forest with my walking buddies, Helen, Joan and Maureen, when we saw a koala trying to climb a dead tree. He looked very weak and sick. They usually scamper up a tree quite quickly but not this poor little guy.

We were not able to contact any rangers so we tried the RSPCA. (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ) We had to wait for a long time for the animal rescue person to arrive. Helen and I had to leave for an appointment but Maureen and Joan stayed to keep an eye on the koala. As it was he it had slowly made its way to the top of the tree trunk.

He was looking around for another tree to jump into but he probably couldn't see very well due to the disease in his eyes and probably why he was in a dead tree.

My friend , Joan, took the next photos of the rescue by John. John had a long pole with a plate like top to it. He puts it gently over the Koalas head and encourages it to climb down.

 

Down he comes.  John wears long, thick protective gloves because koalas have very long, strong claws that can cause damage when they are frightened and attack.

John grabs koalas' arms and drops him in the cage.

John checks he is secure and then he asked the girls to name him. The RSPCA like you to name the recued animal and then they keep in touch with you to let you know what happened to the animal in the future. The girls wanted to call him John after the rescuer but he said no because too many people want that name. So he was named " Bobby" after Joan's husband Bob.

Poor Bobby had very sore eyes. They were bright red. We are not confident that he will survive.

Koalas are in decline due to many reasons: clearing of their habitat for buildings, bushfires, dog attacks, hit by cars and chlamydial disease. 

This article is from Oxford Academic:

Chlamydia pecorum is classically associated with ocular and urogenital disease in koalas. When the infection establishes in the conjunctiva of the eye, chronic conjunctivitis and keratoconjunctivitis can lead to corneal scarring and eventual blindness. When the infection establishes in the urinary tract (including the urethra, bladder, ureters and kidneys), the accompanying urethritis, cystitis, ureteritis and/or pyelonephritis can cause severe pain, polyuria and/or urinary incontinence leading to “wet-bottom” as well as skin ulceration and secondary infection. Finally, when infection establishes in the reproductive tract, inflammation in both females (eg. salpingitis, endometritis, vaginitis) and males (eg. epididymitis, orchitis, urethritis) can lead to scarring and infertility.