Day - 56. Port Macquarie (7)

We took a look at a very old local house, known as Roto House, which was like a step back in time.  It was built by John Flynn in 1891, and has 11 rooms.  It is constructed of local red mahogany, and the Flynn family lived there until 1979.  The house is decorated as it would have been a very long time ago, and included hand painted china, family photographs, and even a butter churn and a set of bellows.  The property is now maintained by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which receives much help from enthusiastic volunteers.

Nearby is the koala hospital, which receives about 250 injured or ill koalas each year.  The small staff and volunteers are doing a fantastic job treating the animals, and running the hospital with no government finance.  Their funding comes from donations, gifts, sale of items from the small shop, and generous assistance from wealthier people who have a keen interest in the welfare of koalas.  A male koala can live for about 20 years if he has sufficient food and does not succumb to illness or predators (dogs, foxes, and dingoes).  It takes about one year for a newborn koala to grow big enough to suckle efficiently in the pouch, but cannot ride on mum's back until much older. The gestation period for a koala is 35 days and after birth the tiny new born instinctively reaches the pouch.

This hospital is a very important hub for people to call if they see a koala injured or in trouble.  It is a wonderful example of what donors and volunteers can do to assist wildlife.

Roto House, Port Macquarie.

Koala Hospital, Port Macquarie.

A volunteer feeding a blind male koala a mixture of Soy milk with an eye dropper.  He is fed this mixture twice each day.

This one has only three legs and one eye after being hit by a car.  She had a baby on her back, which needed to be separated to give mum a chance to have her rear leg amputated and then recover.  She will not be able to be released because of her vulnerability, but she is content in the location of the hospital.

Most of these koalas will spend the rest of their lives here as they cannot defend themselves from the predators in the wild.

The three legged one again.

Fresh eucalyptus leaves ara harvested each day and fed to the koalas.

Koalas sleep 20 hours each day and 4 hours eating.

Most have conjunctivitis and are partially blind or have chlamydia. ( A bacterial infection which is serious for the koalas)