Early Saturday morning, a koala arrived from Arundel on the Gold Coast suffering horrendous burns sustained in a bush fire Friday night. The fire was thought to have been caused by a thoughtless person throwing a cigarette butt from a car travelling along the highway.

The fire destroyed an area of bushland roughly four to five football fields in size, and a known koala and wildlife habitat. Wildcare wildlife carer volunteers were unable to access the area Friday night as the bush was still burning fiercely and the danger from falling trees was ever present, making the scene very dangerous.

At first light Saturday morning, the rescuers were able to search the burnt out area and this is when the koala was rescued and transferred to the Australian Wildlife Hospital under the expert care of a veterinary nurse.

The seven-year-old female koala was named Jacinta and Dr Amber placed the critical patient under anaesthetic so she could assess the full extent of her injuries.

Jacinta’s fur was completely singed and left smelling strongly of smoke. Her nose was raw and swollen and her ears were blistered inside. All four paws were severely burnt and the top layer of skin was peeling off to reveal the raw swollen skin underneath.

Dr Amber treated and bandaged all of Jacinta’s paws and applied burn cream to her nose. Long term the burns should heal well but there is the risk of infection, so the bandages are carefully changed and the wounds checked every day. The most worrying aspect at present is the threat of Jacinta developing pneumonia due to her lungs being damaged by smoke inhalation.

Currently Jacinta is on strong pain relief, antibiotics and fluids and the vets hope to see her well on the way to recovery in four to six weeks.

 

This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Wildlife Warriors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.