A man is being hailed a hero after stopping to help a displaced koala at a busy intersection
Two people stopped to protect a displaced koala at a busy road last night as they waited for rescuers to show up.
Moreton
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A MYSTERY man is being hailed a hero after protecting a lost koala from certain death near a busy roadside north of Brisbane.
The incident came just two days before protesters held a rally outside Parliament House over the state government’s “inaction” to reverse the “catastrophic decline” of koalas in South East Queensland.
Jennifer Millar was driving through a busy intersection at Warner, an area at the centre of massive past and future development when she spotted a koala scrambling across the road.
She posted a photo of the man with the koala clutching his motorbike helmet which was shared on multiple social media pages.
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“I followed the koala by car for a few minutes until he went around the corner,” Ms Millar posted on Facebook.
The koala made it to temporary safety by climbing up a light post at the corner of Old North and Kremzow roads.
“To then have this man turn up in his leathers which was a life saver as he could grab the koala from light post.
“The koala was so calm and stayed attached to this guy until the (Pine Rivers Koala Care) rescue man came.”
“(It) was so sad. The poor little guy was probably 2-3 years old.
“All he wanted to do was climb his tree however all he could try to climb was light posts and he no chance of getting back over the fence (to the trees).
“So happy we could save this guy, so thankful this guy in leather turned up and so sad they do keep chopping down their natural habitat.”
Koalas are regularly spotted in the area to the west of Old North Rd, known as the Warner Investigation Area which is subject to future development for about 1200 new homes.
This includes about 500 lots proposed for the CSR Quarry site, on the same corner as the koala was rescued.
A significant number of habitat trees have already been cut down at the quarry site in recent years, though CSR recently held a tree-planting in preparation for its housing development.
The company was also working with koala experts to track and monitor koalas in the area.
People were quick to hail Ms Millar and the mystery man as heroes who potentially saved the koala from becoming yet another one killed on Pine Rivers roads.
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The Save Our Community Warner group said: “This guy is an absolute hero. But what developers have done to the area around Warner/Joyner/Lawnton already is to decimate so much of the koalas’ natural habitat that they then end up with no where to go.
“A koala wouldn’t naturally grab onto a human like this.
“It’s not their instinct, so this poor little guy must be so confused and disoriented. He must realise there are no trees.
“This also isn’t the first koala found in this same area.
“Remember Colonel at KFC several months ago? Hit by a car, months of rehabilitation until he was well again.
“Let’s hope this little guy is OK. We can’t say as much for his home, it’s just not there anymore.”
Many others were also critical of the amount of development in the area.
“Warner development zone will be the end of our koalas locally,” one wrote. “They just hang on in scraps of remnant vegetation.”
Another wrote: “The greatest enemy is the councils, they give their approvals to these ghettos.”
“It is so sad that developers are able to bulldoze trees and displace our beautiful koalas. We are so blessed to have them,” another wrote.
Another resident said koala habitat was “getting more scarce and stories about koalas might one day be just a memory.”
Today, over 60 people representing wildlife carers and local conservation groups from across Brisbane, held a “Koala Memorial” outside Queensland Parliament to mark two years of government inaction since the Koala Expert Panel called for urgent policy change to reverse the “catastrophic decline” of koalas in South East Queensland.
The government-appointed group of expert scientists handed its report to the State Government in September 2017.
“With the Panel’s advice now two years old, it’s shocking that koala habitat is still being bulldozed right on our doorstep,” Queensland Conservation Council director Louise Matthiesson said.
“Every day volunteer wildlife carers rescue injured koalas that have fled after their habitat was destroyed, while the Palaszczuk government sits on its hands.”
“Today, in the lead up to National Threatened Species Day, we are pausing to remember the hundreds of koalas killed in recent years, while we continue to wait for the much needed government intervention.”
The Koala Advisory Council, a mix of conservationists, developers and stakeholder industries, is due to table a report in Parliament this month that sets out reccomendations to balance the protection of koalas with allowing development.
RSPCA Queensland CEO Mark Townend, who is leading the council, told Pine Rivers Press the new report would not be utopian, but would instead put forward realistic outcomes.
The State Government has said it will fully suport any recommendations from the report.
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