NSW bushfires: Koala homes inhabitable as land slowly recovers

As koalas who suffered burns in the state’s devastating bushfires slowly bounce back, their habitat is taking longer to recover, with fears it will take at least six more months for the fire-ravaged areas to become habitable again.

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The good news is these burned koalas are getting better — the bad news is their bushfire-ravaged homes won’t be able to sustain them for at least another six months.

The staff and cuddly patients at Port Macquarie Koala Hospital became famous not just around Australia but worldwide in the wake of the area’s fires in December.

This week The Sunday Telegraph returned to see how they were doing.

Paul was the first of 35 cuddly bushfire victims admitted to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, only eight of which succumbed to their injuries.

Bushfire victim, Paul the koala, is recuperating at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Paul’s burns are still being treated at the hospital. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Like all koalas that sustained bad burns to their hands and feet, Paul’s return to the wild hangs on whether his claws grow back well enough to climb trees.

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Fortunately, all their burns have healed well enough to abandon the bandages that required changing under anaesthesia every five days.

“Paul is still quite quiet because he’s bloody crook, but he’s alive and recovering,” assistant clinical director Scott Castle said.

“He still has a pretty raw rump after being burned all over but his claws are starting to grow back — hopefully they don’t grow back malformed or brittle.”

Koala bushfire victim Anwen getting a check-up. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Medical staff and volunteers treat Anwen, cleaning her wounds and changing bandages. Picture: Nathan Edwards

If Paul cannot be released into the wild, he will be the first candidate for the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital’s planned Koala Ark breeding program.

The plan is to breed a new population of koalas to replace those lost in blazes, using the astonishing $7.8 million raised through a GoFundMe fundraising drive.

The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has now suspended its donation drive, although it still receives cards and well-wishes from across the world.

Baz the koalas is given his daily formula at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Baz’s claws were injured in the bushfires. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Anwen enjoying some fresh eucalyptus leaves.

In a sign of how famous the hospital has become, clinical director Cheyne Flanagan will this week address the United Nations in New York, where she will warn NSW coastal koala populations will not survive increasingly dry summers.

“If the predictions for hotter and drier summers come true, the long-term survival of the koala population is under a serious cloud,” she said.

Ms Flanagan has called for a complete moratorium on residential, mining and agricultural land use in known koala habitats until the full extent of the bushfire death toll is known.

Originally published as NSW bushfires: Koala homes inhabitable as land slowly recovers