FALSE FOOT A young koala with an artificial foot made by a dental prosthetist rests on a tree branch in Lismore, Australia, in this still image taken from a video on Monday. —REUTERS
SYDNEY—Triumph, a male koala born without a foot, has been climbing and running since he was fitted with a prosthetic one made by a neighborhood dentist, an Australian wildlife carer said on Monday.
Veterinarian nurse Marley Christian had rescued the joey koala in northern New South Wales in 2017, after she found him next to his dying mother with only three feet and a protruding bone in place of the fourth.
“Once I put the little boot on him and he did this little jump, then he was running around and climbing, I actually cried,” she said,
explaining how Triumph became a whole new koala once the prosthesis was attached.
“It’s the best thing that ever happened, I would do absolutely anything for this boy.”
Birth defect
Christian had become Triumph’s primary carer at Friends of the Koala center in Lismore, a town 136 kilometers south of Brisbane, while searching for a solution to his birth defect.
A US company specializing in animal prosthesis tried to create a foot for Triumph but was unsuccessful after several attempts.
Eventually, Christian found an answer closer to home. Dental prosthetist Jon Doulman had heard of Triumph’s dilemma and volunteered to take on the case.
The resulting prosthetic is pink, with a Velcro strap to help keep it on Triumph’s leg and a tread on the bottom to help the marsupial grip while walking and climbing.
“It was certainly different,” Doulman said. “It required a bit of lateral thinking in so far as coming up with the design … but it was a great feeling to be able to help him.”
Doulman is currently improving his design for Triumph, but said the koala “seems to be quite comfortable wearing it.”
Triumph, who is nearly 5 years old, will need to spend the rest of his life in captivity, most likely under Christian’s care.