Meet the husband-and-wife team who have turned their lounge room into a burns unit for koalas hurt in bushfires
- Paul and Christeen McLeod are currently caring for 24 of the ailing marsupials
- Their home in Taree, NSW is in the heart of the bushfires burning across the state
- Couple perform the task of cleaning and applying cream to each koalas’s burns
- They then let the animals recover with the help of pain relief in their living room
A married couple have turned their living room into a makeshift burns unit for koalas left badly injured by bushfires.
Paul and Christeen McLeod, who run the Koalas In Care rescue service from their home in Taree on New South Wales’ Mid North Coast, are currently caring for 24 of the ailing marsupials.
The McLeods perform the painstaking task of cleaning the scorched koalas’ fur, cutting off their peeling skin and applying cream to help their injuries heal.
A married couple have turned their living room into a makeshift burns unit for koalas left badly injured by the bushfires ravaging their town (pictured left and right injured koalas recovering at their home)
The McLeod’s, who run the Koalas In Care rescue service from their home in Taree on New South Wales’ mid-north coast, are currently caring for 24 of the ailing marsupials (pictured treating a burnt koala)
Ms McLeod revealed one male koala they took in from the Hillville fire south of Taree was so badly singed his fur, paws, nose and ears were all burnt.
‘At the moment we’ve got him lightly sedated. We have tended to his injuries – now it’s a wait-and-see if he responds to treatment. He’s got a long road in front of him,’ she told news.com.au.
The koala, who the couple named Sootie because of his ashen appearance, is now one of the marsupials recovering in their lounge in a laundry basket.
Each one has their own set of towels as well as eucalyptus leaves to feed on, and Ms McLeod said they are using antibiotics and pain relief to help them recover.
Mittens have also been donated from around the country to give to the koalas, which the couple use to cover their paws and keep the cream in place.
She added the situation this week was particularly acute for the local koala population as the bushfires had torn straight through their habitat.
‘Somebody has to look after them because nobody else is doing too much, as far as the government, in protecting them,’ she told ABC News.
‘We have a number of koalas in care. And it’s a scary scenario, but that may well be the only insurance policy koalas have for the area here.’
One concerned passer-by filmed a badly burnt koala, which was later taken in by Koalas In Care, blackened by ash and seemingly unable to move.
One concerned passer-by filmed a badly burnt koala (pictured), which was later taken in by Koalas In Care, blackened by ash and seemingly unable to move
It comes as hundreds of koalas were feared dead after fire swept through the Lake Innes Nature Reserve south of Port Macquarie over the weekend.
About 350 koalas living on the reserve in the north coast town of Port Macquarie have died in the bushfires, the group Koala Conservation Australia estimates.
The charity’s president Sue Ashton told the Sydney Morning Herald she believed most of the animals met a tragic demise in the blaze.
‘We think most of the animals were incinerated,’ Ms Ashton said. ‘It’s like a cremation. They have been burnt to ashes in the trees.’
New South Wales Rural Fire Service said 800 firefighters were still fighting 61 fires raging across the state – with 25 yet to be contained.
It comes as hundreds of koalas were feared dead after fire swept through the Lake Innes Nature Reserve south of Port Macquarie over the weekend (pictured koala recovering at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital)