Racing to Rescue Koalas

It's two in the morning, and a koala is caught on a fence, like a prisoner
trying to escape. A phone rings in the home of Megan Aitken in a suburb of
Brisbane, on the east coast of Australia. Aitken runs a volunteer organization
devoted to rescuing wild koalas. Before she is told the location, she has
already thrown her clothes over her pajamas, ready to head out.

When Aitken arrives on the scene, two other volunteers—Jane Davies and
Sandra Peachey—are already there. They discover that the koala's fur is
caught in the barbed wire.1 Nearby, they notice tall eucalyptus trees. "He
was obviously trying to get to the trees on the other side," Aitken says.
Aitken puts on heavy gloves. Despite their cute appearance, koalas can be
ferocious when resisting capture. If they feel threatened, they bite, and
Aitken has the scars to prove it. The volunteers get to work. Davies throws
a blanket over the animal, while Peachey opens the lid of a cage. Aitken
firmly grasps the koala through the blanket, frees it from the fence, and
drops it in the cage.

Next, they check the animal's physical condition. If the koala is sick
or injured, it may need to be taken to an animal hospital. If the koala is
healthy—like this one—it is normally released where it is found. Koalas
tend to live in a small area, and often eat from the same trees over and over.
Right now, however, Aitken and the rescued koala are in a suburb with
almost no trees. "This is the whole problem," Aitken says. "There are so
few places left for the koala." In the end, Aitken takes the animal to a small
park nearby and releases him. "Good luck, little one," she says.

Koalas at Risk "Koalas are getting caught in fences and dying," explains Deidré de
Villiers, a koala researcher in Queensland, Australia. Others are being
killed by dogs or struck by vehicles, she says. Some even die "simply
because a homeowner cut down several eucalyptus trees in his backyard."
For 15 years, de Villiers has been studying koalas and the reasons for
their disappearance. She is also working on ways to make suburban areas
more koala-friendly. De Villiers believes that koalas and humans can live
together, if certain changes are made. She recommends reducing speed
limits on streets and creating more green areas for koalas to live in. Even
more important is the need to preserve eucalyptus trees.

Even if these changes are made, koalas still have another problem. "Disease is a
huge issue," explains veterinarian2 Jon Hanger. Hanger says that almost half of
Queensland's female koalas are affected by a disease called chlamydiosis. Without
treatment, the koalas are unable to reproduce. "Koala populations that used to be
vibrant are becoming extinct," says Hanger. Once, there were millions of koalas in
Australia; now, there are believed to be fewer than 80,000.

A Friend to Koalas At her home near Brisbane, Deidré de Villiers is taking care of a female koala named
Ruby. "Ruby still sleeps in the basket hugging her teddy bear," she says. "She was
rescued from the jaws of a dog." Every two days, de Villiers collects eucalyptus leaves,
the koala's primary food, from a nearby farm to feed Ruby. For 12 years, she has
cared for more than 60 koalas.

LOSING THEIR EUCALYPTUS Over two centuries ago, about ten million koalas lived in forests on the
east coast of Australia. Eucalyptus leaves—their primary food source—
were plentiful. By the start of this century, nearly two-thirds of the forests
had been cleared, leaving fewer than 80,000 koalas left in the wild.

Later, de Villiers visits a forest near Brisbane to catch Tee Vee, a wild female koala. De
Villiers has been following Tee Vee for over a year. Using special audio equipment,
de Villiers walks and listens for a signal from the koala's radio collar.3 She eventually
finds Tee Vee sitting on a tree branch 15 meters high. As de Villiers climbs up a
ladder, Tee Vee starts moving down the tree. Then, suddenly, the koala jumps into
the air and lands on the ground. She is quickly captured by de Villiers's team.

Tee Vee is given medicine to relax her. Next, de Villiers measures the length of the
koala's body and head. She also checks Tee Vee's teeth and the condition of her fur.
"I think she has a baby," de Villiers says. She carefully opens the koala's pouch and
takes out a 10-centimeter-long baby koala. De Villiers examines the baby for any
problems. Then she puts it back in the mother's pouch. "As long as there are healthy
babies," she says, "there's still hope."