With COVID-19 taking first place in the media, it seems so long ago that our country was engulfed in flames and Australians were banding together to help save our nation, its people and its beautiful wildlife. Yet, it was only the beginning of this year and not so long ago.

We haven’t forgotten and our plight to help those less fortunate continues even throughout COVID-19. We have encountered hiccups along the way, and still continue to encounter them with Victoria’s latest Stage 3 second lockdown. However, we don’t stop just because of COVID. We continue to help. With your help, we can all make a difference. There are still many people and wildlife out there that desperately need our help and together we can help make a difference in their lives.

We thought we’d give you an update on the two koalas Zoo Studio adopted at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, during the height of the bushfires and also an update on our fundraiser book.

We’ve kept an eye out on how our two adopted koalas have been doing. We adopted Lion Leo and LINR Paul. One of the reasons I chose LINR Paul, was because my Uncle’s name was Paul. He passed away on Christmas Eve, about 6 years ago now. For me, it was a small dedication to my Uncle, who I loved dearly. Lion Leo was just the cutest little Koala I had seen and I loved the name Lion Leo. But honestly, it would not have mattered what their names were, we just wanted to help make a difference.

LINR Paul was the first koala rescued in the devastating bushfires in Port Macquarie in November last year. When he was brought to the Koala Hospital, he was very badly burnt and very traumatised, as we can only imagine ☹ For a long time, he sat in his basket in intensive care. Over the months, Paul responded well to treatment and his healing progressed as the staff at Port Macquarie Koala Hospital had expected. Sadly though, in spite of the nutritional diet and all the specialist care the hospital staff could give, LINR Paul’s health started to decline and he sadly passed away quickly a couple of weeks ago. This broke the hearts of all of us at Zoo Studio. We really thought this sweet boy would make it. RIP beautiful LINR Paul. You will be missed.

When you hear the wind rustling the leaves high up in the trees, stop
and listen, for it is the spirit of the koala calling to you……

In early September, 2019, a home owner found a young male koala in the backyard with her dogs and was concerned the koala may have been attacked. The rescue team at Port Macquarie Koala Hospital were sent there and the young koala was captured. That young koala is Lion Leo! When first examined at the Koala Hospital, staff were pleased to find Lion Leo only had a laceration on one foot. They also discovered he had the most amazing beautiful blue eyes! Blue eyes in koalas is a rare genetic phenomenon. Some can have one blue eye and one brown eye, but it is rare to find this trait in koalas.

The Koala Hospital has been working with the Lions Club of Port Macquarie-Tracking Point in putting together the Koala Smart program for schools throughout the Hastings and Macleay Valleys. This is a wonderful program that is about getting students to come up with ways to reverse the decline in koalas on the mid north coast and then to implement these projects into the real world with the support of the Koala Hospital and Lions. The results so far have been amazing. The Koala Smart program is so important that Port Macquarie Koala Hospital’s blue-eyed Koala, Lion Leo as he has been called, has become the Ambassador for the Koala Smart program. How awesome is that?! 😊

We are very happy to say, that Lion Leo is now back in his home range 😊 We never know, we may see more blue-eyed koalas from Leo’s offspring in the future. How exciting would that be?!

The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has 18 koalas available for adoption in the ‘Adopt a Wild Koala’ programme. In normal circumstances, the Koala Hospital treats over 300 koalas a year. The adoption programme helps continue their service to save our beautiful koalas in the wild.

We’d like to thank the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital for everything they do to help our wildlife in need. We’d also like to thank them for the photos provided of LINR Paul and Lion Leo, and for the information provided on all their Koalas and services. We will continue to adopt and donate to help those animals in need.

If you’d love to adopt a Koala you can click on the link below and see how your adoption will help.

Koala Adoptions

If you’d love to discover other ways you can help the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital save our Koalas in the wild, click on the link below and check out the other amazing ways you can help.

Donations