A lucky koala was recovering Friday after being caught
by firefighters when it fell unconscious from a tree before being
given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Emergency crews were called to the Melbourne suburb of
Langwarrin on Thursday night after reports that an injured animal
was lying on the road after being hit by a car.
When officials arrived, they found the furry native marsupial
had climbed a tree for shelter and firefighters were brought in to
bring it down.
"We believed it had died in the tree, just when we were trying
to rescue it," Langwarrin Country Fire Authority's Sean Curtin told
Fairfax radio.
"Then it fell out of the tree and the members caught it in a
blanket."
A wildlife officer on the scene then performed mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation, while another rescuer pumped its chest to revive its
heart.
"We put it on O2 oxygen therapy to assist in getting some oxygen
into the blood flow of the koala," Curtin added.
The koala -- nicknamed Sir Chompsalot by the firefighters -- was
taken to the Animalia Wildlife Shelter where he was "well and
eating" Friday.
Thought to number in excess of 10 million before British
settlers arrived in 1788, there are now believed to be as few as
43,000 koalas left in the wild, though their existence high in the
treetops makes them difficult to count.
Habitat loss is considered the single greatest threat facing the
koala population.
Wildlife Victoria said it received more than 50,000 emergency
calls over the past year involving native animals, with 1,600
concerning koalas.
The most common reason was car accidents, followed by dog
attacks.
"It's not uncommon for koalas to get hit by cars, and certainly
our emergency response service does get calls in regional areas
quite a bit," Wildlife Victoria's Amy Amato told AFP.
