In
February a small koala with a broken leg was picked up by a motorist on the
Black Mountain Road near the Nymboi-Binderay National Park. At just 2.8kg, barely
ready to leave her mother, the little koala was in a sorry state and would have
died fairly quickly had she not been immediately taken to Ray Barnett's
Clarence Valley Vet Clinic in Grafton.
WIRES
was called, and little Peta, named after her rescuer, was X-rayed by Ray
Barnett under a general anaesthetic and given a thorough checkup in contact
with the Queensland Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. That same afternoon, still
comfortably sleeping, she was transferred to Friends of Koala in Lismore, and by
next morning was in surgery with the world's leading koala vets at the
Australian Wildlife Hospital (AWH).
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| Peta in care at the Australian Wildlife Hospital |
There
Peta stayed for the next six months, lending herself well to captive care, gaining
in weight, strength and agility as she underwent therapy and gathering the
hearts of all who met her. This included the journalists of Australian
Geographic, whose website now includes a video of Peta patiently undergoing her
daily workouts.
Finally,
her limp gone and able to climb again with confidence, Peta was given the all
clear by AWH director, Rosie Booth to return home.
A release site was chosen not far from where
she was found, and last weekend Peta was returned to her hinterland mountain
home. Last seen she was munching contentedly in one of her favourite food trees
to the notes of the bell-birds she had grown up with.
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| Peta in a forest she-oak after her return to the wild |
Aside
from a lovely success story, Peta has also furthered our knowledge of koalas'
food preferences. While in care, apart from occasional forest red gum leaves, she
would eat nothing but Allosuarina
torulosa, commonly known as forest she-oak.
Although
on some lists as a supplementary or secondary food source, the value of this
non-eucalypt species has largely been ignored. Until now, one small koala has
highlighted the point that it might well be an invaluable link between the
primarily preferred forest red gums of the coast, and the river red gums of the
inland across the koalas' range.
- Patricia
Edwards
This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on August 22, 2016.
