Paw Paw, an adult male koala, was brought into care in November 2005 after being found low in a tree with a septic wound on his left wrist. His wound led to his name Paw Paw (Poor Paw).

It became apparent that the extent of the damage to his wrist would require specialised care as the infection had gone right down into the tendon so he was transported to the Australia Wildlife Hospital at Beerwah. At AWH he underwent a delicate operation on his wrist and was placed on a long course of antibiotics to combat further infection.

The extent of Paw Paw’s wound meant he remained at AWH for a long time and his recovery was slow. This gave the staff & carers plenty of time to be charmed by his laid back style and good natured acceptance of his necessary treatments.

After nearly 10 months in care he was returned to the Friends of the Koala Care Centre. Even though this was over 6months ago in July 06 several FOK volunteers who have since visited AWH have been greeted with “How is Paw Paw?” from the volunteers at the AWH. He certainly found a soft spot with most of those who have worked with him.

Part of his notoriety can be attributed to his escape antics while at AWH. Despite limited use of his left arm from the elbow down he surprised his carers early one morning. Firstly there was shock as he was no where to be found in the enclosure. Then surprise when they looked up to see a wide eyed Paw Paw sitting atop the roof, looking down over the edge. He had somehow managed to leap sideways and climb a metal pillion and clamber on to the roof. Unfortunately he was not bright enough to figure out how to reverse this manoeuvre. Fortunately he did not do it again – well not at AWH anyway.

Two months after returning to the Care Centre the next stage of his rehabilitation process was started when he was brought to our farm. It was time for Paw Paw to build up his muscles and strengthen the wrist that had been damaged by spending some time in a real tree.

Paw Paw was the first koala to take up residence in our newly built soft release enclosure. After six days of bed & breakfast spoiling he decided to show us how agile he had become and abseiled two metres sideways and then free fell one metre to land in an adjacent Tallowwood tree outside his run. It was full on mating season in September and the call of the females had spurred him on. Houdini had done it again!

But wait …..there’s more. As it was the height of breeding season competition for the attention of females led him into battle with an Alpha male koala residing on the same patch. As Paw Paw has been spoilt from the good life for nearly a year his fighting skills were not as polished as his escaping skills. He may have thought he was ready to be back in the wild but he wasn’t. He was chased and fell from a branch. Luckily, being at a soft release so a close eye could be kept on him, a carer was very quick to the rescue and he was captured once more.

Paw Paw has since been returned back to his soft release enclosure and heavy branch pruning has kept him enclosed … for the moment. Every day that passes sees him climbing faster and higher increasing the strength in his sore arm. He has a huge fat belly full of leaf and looks forward to his daily delivery of fresh Swamp Mahogany and Forest Red gum leaves.

It will not be long before Paw Paw really is ready for release.

Submitted by Jennifer Creed

Post script -

As stated above, in November 2006 a slightly less confident Paw Paw was returned to his enclosure with the newly pruned Tallowwood trees. Over the next few weeks he would regain his confidence in climbing and increase the mobility and strength of his left arm. This time rather than trying to escape, he seemed to enjoy the pampering and routine, so much so that one evening I had the affront to arrive home half an hour later than his regular feeding time. On approaching the enclosure there sat an indignant looking (and by now very fat) Paw Paw next to his empty leaf container waiting with arms folded staring across at my approach route.

Each day he climbed higher and one evening I was thrilled to observe him leaning heavily sideways and grabbing leaf with his right arm. Meaning? ... his entire body weight was being anchored by his left arm gripping firmly onto a branch. It was then apparent that the release day had finally arrived. On January 19^th with a touch of sadness that comes from having a koala in long term care, I opened the gate of his enclosure and offered Paw Paw his path to freedom. Hundreds of hours of dedicated care by many volunteers had led to this moment.

The sadness was soon replaced by pride as over the next few days Paw Paw was sighted swaying in the breeze in the nearby trees chomping greedily on leaf and affording us the occasional glance. He stayed close by for a few more days and we were reassured that he was coping well and keeping a respectable distance from the resident Alpha male. So here ends the saga of Paw Paw ... for now!