Some koalas and their rescuers are particularly special. Take Alice and her rescuers Bill Jacobi and Jude Mason of Uki.

Alice had been hit by a car on the Pacific Highway between the Byron Turnoff and Tyagarah. Bill, a muso, was driving home at 2am on a Sunday morning when he saw Alice in the middle of the road.

She was in a bad way and he had no trouble wrapping her in a towel.

Once home in Uki Bill and now Jude, wondered what to do. The koala’s gasping breath and facial injuries were very distressing. They rang the Friends of the Koala Hotline and were amazed when a very sleepy voiced answered.

The immediate care of the koala was discussed and Bill and Jude agreed to drive Alice to the Koala Care Centre in Lismore. As soon as she got off the phone, Care Centre Co-ordinator Kay Sherring raced to the Care Centre to make preparations. Around 4am they arrived. Jude and Bill were much relieved and grateful that Alice was checked over, given pain relief and taken home by Kay for what remained of the night.

Facial trauma can by tricky in a koala. As well as the cuts, abrasions and swelling, there was concern that the fine bone inside the nasal area had been broken. As things turned out, ongoing pain relief administered under direct veterinary supervision was required.

Alice spent a month at the Australian Wildlife Hospital at Beerwah before returning to the Care Centre, as good as new. Jude and Bill had been advised of her progress and were invited to participate in her release at Tyagarah a couple of days later. They were delighted.

Rescuing a koala or indeed any wild animal is a responsibility which involves care and some basic knowledge. Bill had been working and it was 2am when he stopped to investigate the koala sitting in the roadway. Their mercy dash meant the total disruption of the rest of Bill and Jude’s night.

There are a couple of simple rules that will help a koala that has been injured, Bill and Jude followed these which increased Alices chances of survival dramatcially. They handled her gently. Keep her contained, warm, quiet and isolated from human disturbance. They rang Friends of the Koala immediately. Amazing outcomes can be achieved these days when an injured animal is treated sensitively from the outset.

And what of Alice? She had been a healthy koala to start with: a young adult, about two years of age, weighing over four kilograms and in very good body condition. She is now tagged and roaming in a locality of good habitat far enough away, we hope, from the killer highway, but close enough to where she was found to optimize her chances of survival, and in particular of fulfilling her breeding potential.