N EW SL ETT ER
May/June 2014
From The President
WOW – twenty years on – October 2014 marks our 20th Anniversary (no wonder I feel so old and don’t
recognise the strange old lady in the mirror).
Over the past twenty years IKPS has hand raised over 175 orphan koalas for release to the wild, rescued
approximately 2,500 koalas and heaven knows the numbers for other species of wildlife – I have no idea.
What a marathon effort.
More recently though, we seem to have become “unofficial” consultants to Local, State and Federal
government agencies and their representatives, local land owners and developers.
At the recent EnviroForum facilitated by the Ipswich City Council it was pretty obvious that by working
with and alongside them we are taking the appropriate steps towards protecting the environment.
The State Government has also recognised the importance and need for what “we” do as a koala rescue
group. Education plays a major role – it’s not enough to rescue and rehabilitate. Conservation and
protection (my favourite pastime) of habitat is critical to the ongoing survival of koalas as a species.
Protecting koala habitat also ensures a safer future for all wildlife.
IKPS has received a second grant from the State Government to build and develop a koala display trailer
and education unit. Hopefully it will be ready to roll out on our second Koala Konnection Day.
Our inaugural “]KK” day was a HUGE success and this year should be bigger and better – although it’s
hard to improve on perfection. As this year is our 20th anniversary we have decided to combine the KK
day with anniversary celebrations which means that our KK day will be held in October instead of
August. PLEASE lock in the date – 12th October. We will finalise plans soonish and get out posters and
invitations. We can use as much support and help as we can get. Need to start beg, borrowing and
stealing (maybe not stealing) for our monster raffle. Contact us with any ideas, donations or support –
we need you.
Will keep you all updated.
Ruth
…………………………………………………………..
NEW MEMBERS
I.K.P.S. extends a very warm
welcome to our newest members:
EMMA-KATE & KIM GEDRITIS
DANIELLE HINDMARSH
KATELYN GIBSON
THE QUODLING FAMILY
SANDY MORRIS
MARYYANNE HUTCHEON
SARAH HOLMES
JESSICA FRIEND
THE APOSTOLATOS FAMILY
SUE & GRAEME QUENNELLE
THE PRATT/SHEPHARD-PICTON FAMILY
and a very warm welcome to
our newest little “joey”
KEITH JAMES JOHNSON
28-4-2014
Congratulations
Chrissy and Cameron
[note the cute picture on his rompers]
This newsletter has been printed with the kind assistance of Cr Victor Attwood, Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Div 3
No. 2 ambulance
(This one goes faster
because it’s red).
18/1/14 ROSEVALE – E J 3 (yep this is his name), was admitted to MKH with severe conjunctivitis. He is still
receiving treatment and is currently part of a research project on the fertility of male koalas – hence the
name.
23/1/14 KOORALBYN – adult male died shortly after being found. He had puncture wounds to his chest from a
dog attack, but post mortem also showed that he had pneumonia, hepatitis, cystitis and in really poor
condition. Quite often our rescues for car strike or dog attacks are because the koala was already on the
ground due to other problems.
27/1/14 MAROON – sub adult female, only about 2 years old, found on the ground with punctures consistent with
a dog attack. She died before reaching the clinic. Post mortem also found ovarian cysts, severe cystitis
and only a body score 1.
2/2/14 MORWINCHA (Boonah turnoff on the Cunningham Highway) – sub adult male hit by a car (100k). He
suffered massive internal and external injuries and unfortunately was euthanased.
3/2/14 SPRING CREEK – PASH (was rescued from a passionfruit farm), admitted to MKH with quite bad
conjunctivitis. She was treated and released on the 5/4/14.
10/2/14 ADARE – E J 11 (another research koala). He was wasted, had severe cystitis and renal failure. He was
euthanased after the research project was completed.
27/2/14 LOWOOD – E J 14 (MKH is now up to E J 27 hopefully something good will come out of the project).
Treated for conjunctivitis and cystitis. He was released on the 3/4/14.
3/3/14 WILLOWBANK – adult female hit by a car on the Cunningham Highway (80klm). She was euthansed at
the R & R clinic –ruptured lungs and haemorrhaged caecum. She also had very large ovarian cysts, and
severe cystitis.
6/3/14 RATHDOWNEY – adult female – wasted and all reproductive organs diseased. Euthanased.
9/3/14 FERNVALE –adult female found dead on the Brisbane Valley Highway (60klm). She had been hit by a
car, but once again, as with the majority of females picked up, she had diseased reproductive organs.
12/3/14 WILLOWBANK – E J 19 admitted to MKH with conjunctivitis. He is still under vet care.
13/3/14 LOWOOD – E J 20 (aka NORBERT) he was a return from 2009. He was admitted to MKH as part of the
research project and later euthanased. He had cancer and cystitis.
25/3/14 MUTDAPILLY – adult female with a body score 0, reproductive disease and severe cystitis. She was
euthanased.
27/3/14 MOUNT FORBES – adult female, dying as she was delivered to the R & R clinic. After assessment she
was euthanased at the clinic. She had a body score 0.
29/3/14 MOOGERAH – adult female – same old story – diseased ovaries, cystitis and body score 0. She was
euthanased.
8/5/14 ESK – 6 dead koalas picked up over a couple of months and kept in the freezer for post mortem at MKH.
Coominya – adult female – disease.
Coominya – adult female – disease.
Toogoolawah – adult male hit by car (100k).
Esk – adult male died from injuries sustained in a fall.
Coominya – adult male hit by car, also cystitis and wasted.
Mulgowie – adult male hit by car (100k) – a bit too mutilated to complete a post mortem.
Thank you to the staff of Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary for their fundraising
efforts on behalf of IKPS. They sold hand-made koalas to visitors, staff and
their families and friends. Lone pine management matched the amount
they raised. The total donated to us was $2,785.10.
Photo: Helen receiving the cheque from Mai Kag.
And thank you to The Protection of the Earth and Wildlife Association Inc
for their very generous donation of $3000.
OUR ORPHANS & ORPHAN UPDATE
GEORGE was released back to Esk on the 30/1/14.
WENDY has done her time in kindy and was
released on the 3/3/14 back to Lockyer Waters.
EVIE graduated from kindy and was released on the
22/3/14.
YESTER completed his time in koala kindy and was
released on the 23/4/14.
HAZE now weighs 2.8kg and is still in kindy but will
be released within the next week.
MISS BETH is still in care. She is responding well to
treatment and will hopefully be in kindy within the
next month, along with her “sisters” MISS BETTE
and MISS DAISY.
A rare and lucky photo opportunity – 3 of our kindy kids
together and all facing the same way……a fluke.
L–R
Harding, Mr Banjo and Thaiday in kindy.
Photo courtesy of Linda Oliver
This story will appear in the next Ipswich City
Council Enviro magazine – I thought I would
share it with our members.
HARDING – the one that stole our hearts.
Every call, every rescue and every orphan steals our
hearts and some break them, but the story of Harding
has become quite special not just to us, but to a very
special family.
In the early hours of the morning (5-ish) on the 20th
June 2013, IKPS received a call from a very
distressed member of the public. Her dog had just
attacked a koala. The sad part is that she is very
aware of the koalas in the area and her dogs are
always locked in the house at night. It was just
unfortunate timing that the koala decided to move
across the (fully-fenced), dog yard just as the dogs
were let out.
This is not an unusual occurrence for us. On average
IKPS rescues approximately 180 koalas a year. This
time though there was a baby in mum’s pouch.
Maybe luck was on his side, because as mum was
being dragged up the yard by one of the dogs, (with
the owner in hot pursuit - by torchlight), the bub fell
out of the pouch. He was quickly scooped up by the
caller and taken into safety.
On arrival there was nothing we could do for mum,
she had already died, but the baby was taken into
care, transported to the Moggill Koala Hospital for a
thorough check up and fostered to Helen Darbellay
(Helen also performed the rescue).
As fate would have it some IKPS members were
attending the official opening of the Ipswich City
Council’s new recreation park – Harding’s Paddock –
on the Saturday after the bub came into care. There
were also representatives from Ipswich Council and
the media, (a great PR opportunity for everyone
involved). Helen likes to think about the name her
newest family member should have, and up until that
Saturday he was unnamed.
[Editor aka Helen: It was only four days].
The generosity of the Harding family, and the four
generations of their descendants who attended the
official opening, were the inspiration for naming him
“Harding”. While he did not actually come from
Harding’s Paddock, the area was within his mother’s
homing range. Koalas have a homing range and are
returned within a five kilometre radius of where they
came from. In an instant we decided that this was the
perfect place for Harding to be released when the
time came. Harding weighed 571 grams when he
came into care and we knew it would be touch and go
for a while and quite a long haul before we could be
confident that he would survive his ordeal.
IKPS has been rescuing and hand raising orphans for
almost 20 years, (October will be our 20th
anniversary), and in that time we have successfully
hand-raised and released 175 orphans.
Ipswich is quite possibly home to the largest, healthy
population of koalas left in South East Queensland.
We have now released 4 koalas into Harding’s
Paddock which includes Harding who was released
on the 28th February and weighed 3kg.
Ipswich Koala Protection Society is a non-profit,
volunteer organisation with approximately 300
members and 50 wildlife carers. We specialise in
koala rescue and rehabilitation. We run two
dedicated koala ambulances 24/7 and have a Rescue
& Rehabilitation Clinic at our base in Mount Forbes.
We are also extremely fortunate to have a specialised
wildlife veterinarian available to us 24/7.
GENTLE REMINDER:
As wildlife carers our role is mostly rewarding –
but more often than not it can be financially,
emotionally and physically draining. It might be
time to remind all carers that we are only human
and no matter the outcome we can only do our
best.
Animals don’t come into care because they think it
would be nice to have a human mum, be fed
artificial milk, or have to put up with doing things
the “human” way. Mostly they are car hits, dog
attacks or thrown from mum’s pouch for a
perfectly good reason – not always clear to us.
They are compromised, injured, sick, dehydrated,
stressed and just plain cranky with the human
world. We also need to remember that sometimes
things happen in the wild also – for a perfectly
good reason.
I would like to remind carers that these animals
are being raised for return to the WILD – if you
poke, research, experiment and look too hard for
answers, you may be compromising their chance
of return to the wild in the best condition they can
be in and need to be in. Too many drugs will
compromise their immune system which will in
turn compromise the second chance we are giving
them.
It’s great to develop a relationship with your local
vet, but don’t abuse the friendship or their
willingness to help out in an emergency. The
majority of vets are more than happy to
accommodate when they can, but they don’t have
to. Don’t run to the vet every time your baby
“looks a bit funny” or “makes a noise”. RING your
mentor/register head instead. No question is too
stupid or unimportant. We may not have all the
answers but if you don’t ask you won’t know.
Many of us have experienced just about everything in the book and more.
A wise (won’t add old) man many, many years ago
said to me (after I was devastated with the loss of
a kangaroo) that “if you save 1 in a 100 you are
winning and you always learn something from the
ones you lose”. At the time, being the new kid on
the block, I thought this was ****. I have come to
realise over the years that he was right and it has
always stuck in my head.
Do the best you can with the resources available
Ring your mentor or register head (any time).
Cry on someone’s shoulder and share the
experience.
Value every day that you have with your special
baby – if it doesn’t make it at least it will die in a
warm bed and with a full stomach.
HOW MANY ARE NOT LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE FOUND
AND ARE LEFT TO DIE A SLOW AND POSSIBLY
PAINFUL DEATH – OR WORSE.
Remember treating wildlife is entirely different
from treating domestic pets.
UPDATE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS
With more and more people
becoming computer literate, we rely
heavily on contacting
carers/members through email.
It saves us quite a bit of time, (and
postage), – of course our
newsletters are always sent by snail
mail or carrier pigeon. With quite a bit on the agenda this
year, and so we can keep you posted, please contact the
Secretary to update/confirm your details - address
email, phone and mobile numbers, etc.
The date of our 2nd Annual “KOALA KONNECTIONS”
Day has been set for Sunday 12th October – to
coincide with the celebration of our society’s 20th
anniversary. More details soon.
We need prizes donated towards the Multi-draw
raffle and prizes for competitions and games. Can you
help? Now’s your chance to “gift on” all those
unwanted prezzies in your cupboard. Or maybe you
work for an understanding boss who will gladly
donate something his or her company produces,
[for eg. you may work for XXXX and can maybe get
them to donate a carton of beer?]
IKPS can supply you with a ‘letter of authority’ if
you are willing to approach companies/businesses
requesting donations.
To make a donation or arrange for pick-up, contact
our ‘Event Co-ordinator’ Maureen on 3389 7970 or
email littlemamas56@yahoo.com.au
Our application for funding in round 2 of the
EHP Koala Rescue and Rehabilitation Grants
Program was successful. We were awarded
$14,200 to construct and equip an Education
Trailer.
If you have a Canon printer that uses ink
cartridges no. 526 please contact Helen. We
have had a few donated, black & colours.
Also one cartridge of no. 525