From speeding vehicles to chronic starvation and dog attacks, there’s a lot to be afraid of in the day-to-day life of a Gippsland koala. But a new Yarram Koala Sanctuary is aiming to improve the survivability of one of Australia’s mascots and other native wildlife as well.
What’s happening? Fundraising has begun for a koala sanctuary and hospital in Yarram to save injured wildlife and protect the threatened Strzelecki koalas.
The group of 13 directors and advisors behind the Yarram Koala Sanctuary concept came up with the idea after the closure of the native timber harvesting industry in the town. They’re hoping the wildlife facility will bring swathes of tourists to the region.
Show me the money: The state government has already funded a $160,000 feasibility study for the sanctuary in 2025. Now the group is seeking $16,000 in donations to fund plans for the site before it reaches out to philanthropic funders for the roughly $8 million needed to build the facilities.
The sanctuary will provide care to Gippsland’s unique Strzelecki koala - Victoria’s only lineage of koalas that were not impacted by a state program in the 1870s and 1880s that moved koalas to French and Phillip Islands.
If built, the sanctuary would provide 20 to 25 jobs.
A Strzelecki koala. Image provided by Friends of the Earth.
What they said: Veterinary nurse and director of the proposed sanctuary, Mel Darer, told the Monitor 80 percent of wildlife animals that are brought to vets in Gippsland are euthanised because they lack the facilities and training to properly care for them.
“With the services we’re looking to provide at the Yarram Koala Sanctuary, we're hoping to turn that around from a loss of 80 percent to 20 percent.”
Darer said most wild animals who have been injured in road accidents die of extreme stress and being able to provide sedation can save most of those animals.
New koala hospital: Although the selling point is to provide care to the native Strzelecki koalas, Kevin Mackin, another director of the project, said the sanctuary will provide care to all wildlife.
“We've got greater gliders, monitor lizards, echidnas and wombats out here that all need to be cared for.”
Mackin said they hope the sanctuary will offer opportunites for university students to work with the native wildlife and learn more about them.
An adult and child koala. Image provided by Yarram Koala Sanctuary.
Much needed service: Darer said the koala hospital element of the sanctuary was particularly important to Gippsland because the region is home to the genetically distinct Strzelecki koalas.
It’s estimated there are 2,500 Strzelecki koalas while there are approximately 225,000 koalas in Victoria, according to the Arthur Rylah Institute.
The Victorian government doesn’t distinguish between the two while conservation has called for the Strzelecki koalas to be listed as endangered.
“New South Wales and Queensland are leading the field because the koalas up there have been recently listed as endangered,” Darer said.
This endangered category is important because it changes the type of care wildlife doctors are able to provide to injured animals.
“In a bushfire koalas often grab leaves or they're on the ground where there are very hot embers and they often burn their digits,” Darer said. “Currently in Victoria, if they don't have all of their digits, they're euthanised.”
The new digs: If a Gippsland resident wants to take an injured animal to be treated, they either have to take it to the wildlife service in Healesville or to a local vet, which Darer says often pay for the medical treatment out of their own pocket.
“For me, Healesville is about a three-hour drive. For folks in East Gippsland it's getting closer to four, maybe five hours,” Darer said. “It’s unfair to put pressure on a lot of Gippsland general practice vets to provide these services.”
The goal of the hospital will be to offer injured animals x-rays, blood tests, sedation and a specialised veterinary service.
If you’d like to donate to the project, you can do so here.