This picture taken on December 31, 2019, shows a firefighter hosing down trees and flying embers in an effort to secure nearby houses from bushfires near the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales.. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)
Koalas affected by the bushfires sweeping through Australia have found refuge in a makeshift shelter in a primary school in Paradise, South Australia. It is reported that the bushfires, which have been raging since September 2019, have left 25 people dead and 2,000 homes destroyed so far.
Koala pens have been set up in the gym of Paradise Primary School where volunteers have taken to care for the koalas. According to the school’s Facebook post on Jan. 8, they extended their help to the Adelaide Koala Rescue in setting up the shelter.
Dr. Debbie Delahunty and nurse Belinda Collins, both of the Horsham Veterinary Hospital, were some of the volunteers in the shelter, as per The Wimmera Mail-Times on Jan. 6.
“I was concerned about the wildfire after seeing it all over the news,” Delahunty said in the report. “We arrived to a triage at the Paradise Primary School and we were tasked with assessing and treating the koalas currently in care plus new ones. A lot of those helping out had been there for weeks.”
As per Delahunty, much of their work involved sedating the koalas so they could change their bandages and clean their wounds.
“Some of the koalas were very, very dehydrated when they came in so we also had to do some fluid testing and monitoring of their kidney function,” she was quoted as saying.
More veterinarians and veterinary nurses from Horsham are also interested in traveling to Adelaide to extend their help, as per the report. Their help would also be needed in aiding affected animals in Victoria as soon as it has been assessed that it is safe to travel to the area.
Meanwhile, for Collins, volunteering to help treat the affected koalas has been a learning opportunity for her and Dr. Delahunty despite being novices. She plans to return to help again in the shelter once she has worked out the logistics.
“We were novices when we arrived but by the time we left [we] were training others,” she said in the report. “The best part I took out of it was in all the sadness you see the best in humanity with all the volunteers. People come from all over the place from different states, not just from Victoria and everyone was so lovely.” Cody Cepeda /ra
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