Wildlife rescuers were able to track down an injured koala joey that had fled after its mother was mauled to death on a south-east Queensland property.
Wildcare Australia was called to rescue the koala at Imbil in the Mary Valley near Gympie on Sunday.
"Little Jacklyn didn't seem to have any visible injuries [but] on inspection and treatment down at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital they have discovered that she does have blood in her abdomen," volunteer Scott Wilson said.
He praised the landowner for contacting authorities quickly after finding the joey's dead mother, which allowed rescuers to liaise with zoo staff.
"They [zoo staff] confirmed that the female koala had … a dependent young and were able to tell us the size of joey to look for," he said.
"So we went back onto the property, searched for an hour or so and found this young koala."
Beware during breeding season
Mr Wilson urged residents to look out for koalas as they moved around searching for a mate during the breeding season, which traditionally started in July.
He said there was a greater chance of the marsupials coming into contact with roads, cars, people, and dogs.
"This is by no means a demonisation of dogs or dog owners," Mr Wilson said.
"What we're asking though is for people to pay particular attention this time of year as koalas are moving around to try and contain their dogs to their property as much as possible."
Mr Wilson said koalas were more likely to move around during dusk and dawn.
"The more education we do in the community, the more people we have actively paying attention and looking for them or noticing them … would add to the likelihood of us receiving more calls and people seeing more koalas out there."
Funding boost
The state government has announced an additional $3 million over the next two years for the wildlife hospitals at the RSPCA, Currumbin Sanctuary, and Australia Zoo.
That amount is in addition to $1.5 million provided to the SEQ Wildlife Hospital Network each year.
Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the aim of the South East Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy was to prevent the animals from ending up in hospital in the first place.
Ms Scanlon said there would be a focus on treating chlamydia in the species and on creating protected areas.
"We need to make sure we protect the habitat of all of these native species and having a record investment to be able to purchase even more land allows us to protect really, really important iconic animals like the koala," she said.
Wildlife Warriors director Australia Zoo owner Terri Irwin welcomed the announcement and said a change in koala management strategy was a must.
Ms Irwin said an increasing number of the animals ended up in hospital, while koala populations were diminishing.
"Increased habitat is going to give us options instead of returning injured koalas to areas that might be developed with golf courses, schools, and, housing to give them a chance to live more in the wild," Ms Irwin said.
Ms Irwin said the wildlife hospital had treated more than 10,000 koalas with chlamydia — the species' biggest threat.
"Being able to have a vaccine for all those animals going back into the wild, would be a tremendous step in the right direction," she said.
"We're in final development and testing and we need the vaccine to have a long shelf life as well."
