Kyle has a story I hope will have a happy ending. He is 5 years old and should weigh 7-9 kg, but he is only 4.5 kg. Not because he has lost weight, but because he has 'failed to thrive' all his life.
He actually comes from 125 km away, where the koala situation is so bad there is only about 20% habitat left and dwindling fast as development continues.
So he is in the kindy stuffing himself while our volunteers up in his home area search for somewhere we can release him.
He has been rescued twice but he just ends up back in an area with no food sitting on the ground.
Koala release is complicated - we can't release him here or he would most likely try to travel all the way back home. But finding somewhere for him at his home is not an easy task either.
In the meantime, eat up lad, you are safe for now.
That’s such a sad story. Interesting to learn a little bit more about these adorable little animals but I do hope Kyle puts on weight and that his story has a happy ending.
@30pics4jackiesdiamond yes they are very territorial and at 5 years old he would indeed. He would not make it home despite navigation skills I'm afraid 😞
But he will be released somewhere near where he was found, as that is his best chance, but sadly his chances are not terrific with so little habitat left. @terryliv yes, it's like calling it 'progress' ...
Aw poor little chap. Could he end up in some sort of sanctuary instead of letting him lose in the wild?
We have Oakvale Farm at Salt Ash in Port Stephens where a number of koalas live and a newly opened Koala Sanctuary at One Mile. I haven't visited the sanctuary yet but will go shortly and probably take some photos too.
Awww- poor Kyle! His own instincts work against him in a way. I do hope all the pieces will come together for him- a home where he'll be able to thrive or at least live peacefully or he'll be able to stay put in a new place and not be drawn to returning to his former haunts. In the meantime, he'll do well in your kindy, I'm sure about that!!
@onewing it is possible - it takes a very long time to go through all the hoops and processes as you really have to prove that they won't make it in the wild, then the whole application process, and then you have no say in which facility they go to. still early days really to know if decisions like that will be considered
@shutterbug49 the two times he was caught he has been found just sitting on the ground with no food in the area at all, and easily picked up. so that's a sure sign something is very wrong.
we also can do a body condition scoring (score 1 for extremely poor - 10 for excellent) by feeling the muscle on the scapula. sounds odd I know, but once you know how to score a koala then you can quickly feel that muscle on a caught koala and know a lot about how they are doing regardless of their weight.
@shutterbug49 oh sorry a bit more - he isn't actually all that skinny. he is just tiny, so he really has 'failed to thrive' all his life.
We often find very sick koalas that are large framed but wasted away and thin as anything. these rarely survive as they usually have advanced disease.
this fella is just tiny, he looks like little juvenile, but he should be a great big fella the size of Hugo.
@rickster549 he will never become a big fella, but hopefully we can get him in good condition 😊 I never stop learning about these amazing animals either!
@terryliv it is possible - if you see my reply to onewing further up, there is a big process to this and normally one big factor is that they will be part of a species management program. I don't know that this fella would ever become strong enough to mate a female that might weigh 1 - 2 kg more than him. Time will tell and I hope we all get to hear a good outcome to his story 😊
Poor Kyle. I guess being undersized doesn’t help him to hold on to a good territory when it is in such low availability. Hard to see a good path forward for him except in some sort of protected environment but, if they are all involved in breeding programs it would be hard to find him a place.One day at a time, I guess.
November 12th, 2020
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
Super capture of him, lovely detail
But he will be released somewhere near where he was found, as that is his best chance, but sadly his chances are not terrific with so little habitat left.
@terryliv yes, it's like calling it 'progress' ...
We have Oakvale Farm at Salt Ash in Port Stephens where a number of koalas live and a newly opened Koala Sanctuary at One Mile. I haven't visited the sanctuary yet but will go shortly and probably take some photos too.
Great shot of this pretty face.
we also can do a body condition scoring (score 1 for extremely poor - 10 for excellent) by feeling the muscle on the scapula. sounds odd I know, but once you know how to score a koala then you can quickly feel that muscle on a caught koala and know a lot about how they are doing regardless of their weight.
We often find very sick koalas that are large framed but wasted away and thin as anything. these rarely survive as they usually have advanced disease.
this fella is just tiny, he looks like little juvenile, but he should be a great big fella the size of Hugo.