Named Uralla Dave, along with his pal Inverell Nick and others at Port Macquarie’s Koala Hospital, the cuddly critter is currently undergoing ‘dehumanisation’ to prepare him to return to the wild. 

“We want them to go nice and feral as koalas should be, and the best way to do that is to keep your distance,” clinical director Cheyne Flanagan said.

“We keep contact to an absolute minimum with these guys.”

Ms Flanagan said the hospital, which covers an area stretching from Sydney to the Queensland border, often takes in animals from our region. She said that koalas from this area were often very “pretty”.

She said the creatures varied significantly depending on where they grew up.

“They tend to have slightly different behaviours and they vocalise a bit differently. We can pick a mountain koala any day,” she said. 

The hospital is currently surveying three properties on the Macintyre River where the farmers are hoping to see a boost in the koala population. If the area, which Ms Flanagan described as “superb country” is considered appropriate, Uralla Dave and Inverell Nick will have the chance to help start a new population. 

Ms Flanagan said surveyors check the area for occupancy levels. If the numbers are low, the cause must be assessed before releasing more animals in the area. If a fire or vegetation clearing caused the population scarcity, and is not going to happen anymore, the chances of “a good future” is high for the new animals. 

If the area is deemed acceptable, Uralla Dave and Inverell Nick will be part of a small “starter pack”. They will be placed in trees 50 to 100 metres apart, that will be fenced in for a week or two. This encourages the koala to consider that as their “home tree” and stay in the desired area.

“That’s how they start forming that population. They’ve got to be put there in the right sex ratio and the right ages,” Ms Flanagan said.

“It works quite well.” 

The repopulation effort will be a joint project with local ecologists, wildlife carers and Landcare. 

Ms Flanagan had a number of suggestions for locals keen to keep koala populations going.

“Retain as many trees as possible wherever you live, plant as many trees as you possibly can - because all those trees, they’re not just for koalas, they’re for a multitude of species,” she said.

“We call one tree the tree of life because it sustains anywhere into the hundreds of species in the one tree.”

She said scanning the side of country roads for animals was important, and suggested slowing down when there is a wildlife sign. If you do run over an animal, Ms Flanagan noted that all wildlife group numbers in Australia are 24 hours, and they will send someone to pick up injured wildlife. The NSW WIRES wildlife rescue line is 1300 094 737.