Council delivers food for injured koalas

2019 ended in tragedy and devastation for many in our community with bushfires in the Adelaide Hills, Kangaroo Island and across other parts of the country.

The work of the emergency services and the thousands of volunteers across the nation has been extraordinary. Council is not only inspired by these actions but deeply grateful for their dedication and selflessness. It has also been a time when the community has united with kindness and generosity.

The effects are still being felt in the Adelaide Hills with the impacts to homes, livelihoods and wildlife still being realised. At a local level the Burnside CFS has put in countless hours to protect families and defend properties, with residents and community groups continuing to help the clean-up effort and providing various forms of support.

As well as the loss of life and property, the impact upon our nation’s wildlife cannot be underestimated.

As part of the response effort Adelaide Koala Rescue (AKR), a volunteer group, set up an emergency triage site for koalas injured and orphaned in the Cudlee Creek fires. In the past three weeks they have been caring for more than 100 koalas with some still being found and brought in for treatment. Paradise Primary School kindly provided their gymnasium as a hospital space and it has been operating around the clock, staffed with veterinarians, nurses, trainees and a host of committed volunteers. They are still seeking a space large enough to host the hospital once school resumes and needs the space next week. Groups like this are providing an invaluable contribution in nurturing our native species and in the recovery process.

At a chance meeting in early January Mayor Monceaux was advised by AKR volunteer and Burnside resident, Joylene Fraser, of the plight of these many animals and of the work this group was doing. The Mayor approached Council administration to see if they could help with any suitable eucalypt leaves to feed these unique animals.

Mayor Monceaux advised that Council was able to deliver a truckload of food to the AKR hospital, within three days of the official request. “Like many Australians, I have been saddened and felt the horrific impact to our wildlife from the recent fires in the state,” the Mayor said. “The need to help and protect these Adelaide hills koalas, even in a very small way or gesture, has been meaningful and testifies to the true community spirit in our City, and our willingness to help other council areas.”

Burnside’s Arboriculture Team has a list of trees that they work to prune every week as part of managing Burnside’s Urban Forest. The team reviewed this list and brought forward their pruning of an SA Blue Gum, collecting these cuttings and delivering them fresh to AKR on the same day.

In thanking and recognising Council for the delivery Ms Fraser corresponded with the Mayor on 5 January that "arriving at the hospital early this morning [and…] there in front of me was a Burnside Council Depot truck, full of luscious moist leaf, delivering food to the injured koalas. I cried, tears just poured down my face. Last night we were almost empty. How good was this, my own Council to the rescue; I was overwhelmed with pride and gratitude.”

The AKR hospital featured on the television news that evening and Ms Fraser wrote “if you saw the footage on TV [news] tonight all the greenery was from Burnside.”

If you want to help Adelaide Koala Rescue donations can be made to their gofundme page http://bit.ly/2FPdhXG or via their website akr.org.au

To see more images click on the article's title above

Above: The City of Burnside truck delivering SA Blue Gum