Bart Bear's Blog

Our main reason for stopping in Port Macquarie was to visit the Koala Hospital. This is a very special place which helps sick and injured wild koalas recover and return to the forest. Port Macquarie has just the right sort of forest for koalas to live in, but it also has lots of cats, dogs and cars. The forest comes right into the town in places, so in some places people and koalas live in the same areas. Koalas are safe while they are up in the trees, but they have to come down to the ground occasionally to move to another tree. Each year hundreds of them are hurt by being banged into by cars or mauled by cats and dogs. This is when the volunteers at the Koala hospital come in. The hospital has a surgery, intensive care unit, 6 outdoor intensive care yards and 33 rehabilitation yards. Blu and I have definite koala ancestry, so we were very keen to visit the hospital The top photo shows us checking out one of the outdoor IC yards. There is a recovering koala in there; you can see him if you look hard. The bottom photos show me reading one of the signs that tell the story of the koala in the big rehabilitation yard, and the koala herself, snuggled down high up in the gum tree. As well as treating sick koalas, the hospital is part of a research team trying to find cures for koala diseases. Do visit the hospital if you are ever in Port Macquarie, and donate a bit to help keep them in operation. One of the fun ways you can help is to adopt a wild koala; we have adopted 6 so far. If you want to help, you can read about the koala hospital and the "Adopt a Wild Koala" program on the web at http://www.koalahospital.org.au

Labels: animals, New South Wales, north coast, trips