Friends of the Koala has a long history of tagging koalas prior to release having done so for over 20 years. There have been some interesting returns including a female who was released at Goonengerry and then picked up on the Nimbin Rd at Booree Creek with a young joey – 10 years later!!  That is a huge distance to cover over varying landscapes.

It is just this week that two of our release sites for hand raised orphans, Gwens and Rod and Annes have reported seeing koalas and their tags, several months post release.

Tags have been of various colours over the years. At present we usually use bright red as it is easier to spot although it does cause a few phone calls to the hotline for koalas thought to be bleeding from an ear. Unless we make a mistake, girls are tagged in the right ear and boys in the left. The tags used are a swivel tag designed for goats. They have an individual number on them which is kept in our records.

This year there has been a increasing number of tagged koalas either return to care or continue to be spotted in the wild. Some are good outcomes, some not so good. Here are the stories of a few:-

Maddy – 1148 purple yellow

Maddy , a hand raised orphan, was released at my place in early 2005. She hung around the same trees she was released in for a few weeks and also returned to the trees around the house a few times. After that she was not seen again until this year when she turned up at my neighbours place with an older back young and being pursued by a large, healthy male who was being particularly vocal.

Robyn- 154 green pink

Robyn was treated for conjunctivitis at the end of 2003. She was picked up at that time on Tregeagle Rd as a middle aged koala. This year she was picked up on Breckinridge St, near Wyrallah School with severe cystitis and wasted so was euthanased. While not a good outcome it is nice to think Friends of the Koala played a part in helping her have another 6 years out in the wild.

Talls – 131 green

Talls came into care as a suspected dog attack in 2004 from Laceflower Lane, Rosebank. He was only 2-3 years old. This year he was found on the ground in Missingham Rd, Dorroughby, wasted and covered in ticks. He died soon after rescue. Despite his extremely poor condition he weighed over 1kg more than when he had been released so he must have done something good in the meantime.

Bubbles – 2695 red red

Bubbles came into care in October last year. She was a fairly aged female but apart from that a veterinary health check showed nothing obvious wrong. This year she was found deceased on the ground not far from where she was originally found in Gundarimba. Her cause of death is unknown.

Jesse- 2693 red red

Jesse came into care in late 2007 as an extremely sick and anemic back young from Munro Rd, Dunoon. She was hand raised prior to being released on member Karen Jenison’s property on Dunoon Rd. Karen has recently reported a sighting of healthy looking Jesse carrying a joey.

James – 1166 yellow yellow

James was a koala with a reputation. He was treated at the Care Centre twice for Chlamydia, the first time being back in 2007. This koala had huge personality maybe due to having to survive the perils of a koala living in Goonellabah. Carers would draw straws as to who was going to administer his treatments as he liked to jump about and chase people around. He was quite aggressive. This year James was not so lucky suffering severe injuries after being hit by a car. He was immediately euthanased.

KB – 2674 red red

KB was an elderly koala living in Goonellabah picked up with a moth eaten brown coat and big eyes that look straight though you, such as the old boys have just to make you feel guilty for even remotely thinking they have seen better days. That was back in 2007. After much discussion it was decided KB would be soft released into the grounds of the Care Centre where he could make the decision if he wanted to stay there with a life of comfort or work his way back up to the hill in Goonellabah. I told him our plan and he promptly escaped from the enclosure at my place he had been quite happy in till that point.  I guess he didn’t like the plan. KB is now regularly seen working his way up and down Mountain Top Rd. The change of address must have done him good as his coat is now grey and while he still looks old he looks much younger. I would not have known it was him but was able to get close enough to take a photo and zoom in on the tag number on the computer.

Simone and joey – 1053 yellow yellow

Simone was tagged last year. She lived at the University and was a beautiful, healthy breeding female. She was taken into the Care Centre because she had been sitting outside the library and some people had been able to pat her despite her having a pouch young joey – odd behavior for a koala. After a few days at the Care Centre it was apparent that absolutely nothing was wrong with her and she was released back to the Uni. This year she was not as lucky as she decided to head towards Ballina Rd and was hit by not one but two cars – neither or which stopped. An immediate trip was made to send her north as she was still a beautiful healthy breeding female but her injuries were too severe and she died. The new joey she had at the time of the car hit lived a little longer but later died from injuries from the accident. Let’s just hope that first joey she had on board is still living on the University campus.

3306 Tangerine – no name

Number 3306 did not have a name next to her record entered in 2001 when she came into care for Chlamydia as well as being hit by a car.  After a period of Care she was released back into the school grounds of Caniaba Public School. Just last month she was picked up on Green Grove Rd, Caniaba, in poor body condition, aged, with Chlamydia including cysts. She was euthanased but once again it is good to think Friends of the Koala had a part in this girl having an extra 8 years out there in the wild that she may not have had otherwise.