Orphan Koala Has Fighting Chance
Baby Lola Given Fighting Chance
Spanish holiday-goers Miquel and Irene Orpella were admiring the World War II relics on the popular Forts walk, when they spotted the baby koala in a tree and stopped to take photographs.
When they noticed its mother’s unmoving body on the ground, they removed the baby koala from the tree with help from some locals.
“We wrapped her in a towel and carried her to safety,” said Miquel.
“She’s in safe hands now; she’s being treated by the Magnetic Island vet,” said Vet Nurse, Helen Campbell.
Helen Campbell said Lola was “doing OK” but that it will be “quite a few months” before she is released back into the wild.
“We are seeing more cases [of malnourished koalas being found] than normal – five in a very short period,” said Helen.
“This is often due to malnourishment, and it’s likely that this is what claimed the recently discovered koala’s life.”
Rescuers Miquel and Irene were given the special honour of naming the orphan koala.
“We wanted to give her a Spanish name which was cute and easy to remember and Lola came to Irene’s mind,” said Miquel.
Lola’s mother was one of many koalas being tracked on Magnetic Island in a joint study by James Cook University and the University of Melbourne. The three-year study is investigating the biology, demography and geographic movements of her unique koala species as well as the potential impact a dry climate could have on it.
