Thanks to a handful of caring volunteers and specialists, ‘Raine’ — a little orphaned koala joey — will make a full recovery after being swept up in Queensland’s recent floods.
Image: Darcy Modina
The Little Koala Joey Was Found Soaked, Trembling & Alone
We all need some good news, right? When we saw that this adorable little orphaned koala joey had been rescued by a local superwoman during the awful floods in Queensland, we had to share it with you! For months, Darcy Modina and her family had seen a koala joey and its mum on their 10 acre home — just below South-East Queensland’s largest dam.
The young joey, later named ‘Raine’, was found near the river’s edge; drenched, trembling, and alone, with her mum nowhere in sight. As the water levels rose and the evacuation alert was sent out, Darcy knew that she couldn’t leave the joey behind.
“As soon as we wrapped the towel around her, she was open to being warm and letting us hold her. She wasn’t scared at all, just exhausted,” said Darcy.
‘Raine’ Survived Due To Quick Intervention & Specialist Care!
After bundling Raine up in a green shopping bag, Darcy took her to the local evacuation point: the Wivenhoe Pocket Rural Fire Brigade. Due to the flooded roads, Darcy was unable to get Raine the specialised help she needed — until someone remembered a sanctuary that was located nearby.
Somerset Sanctuary’s Petrina Paidel cares for macropods, possums, gliders and koalas. “A truck pulled up and handed me a green bag with a koala in it. She was still soaking wet. I decided to call her Raine for obvious reasons,” Petrina said.
“I dried her off, collected some leaf and prepared special milk formula and she ate nonstop for days. She’s been the perfect house guest,” she said. After the roads cleared, Raine was handed to Marilyn Spletter, who has hand-reared 120 koalas!
Image: Phoebe Timms / The Rescue Collective
Thousands Of Animals Have Been Impacted By The QLD & NSW Floods
From there, Marilyn Spletter assessed Raine’s condition, which was poor judging by the lack of muscle tone in her shoulders. Plus, at 16 months old and weighing just 2.3kg, Raine should still be on her mother’s back. That might explain why Raine had such an appetite!
Raine was incredibly lucky. Thousands of other animals have been orphaned, injured, displaced, or killed during the floods — leading to animal sanctuaries and wildlife rescue services being inundated with calls.
That’s why WWF-Australia opened up its Emergency Flood Appeal — designed to support wildlife rescue partners in their response to floods.
Image: Roland Kay-Smith / Unsplash
With Your Help, More Koalas Like Raine Can Make A Full Recovery!
In many cases, animal sanctuaries and wildlife rescue services are volunteer-led, with little funding to fall back on in emergencies. These floods had left many animals stranded and wildlife carers and vets in desperate need of help.
They’re doing phenomenal work to protect our precious, native wildlife, but they’ll continue to need our help — long after the flood waters subside! Rebuilding viable habitats for our wildlife and bolstering emergency response capabilities will increase the resilience of Australia’s wildlife during future extreme weather events.
“Once the waters subside, we’ll help flood-damaged tree planting projects — critical to the survival of koalas — get back on track,” said Dr Vengetas.
We’re glad to hear that Raine is safe, happy, and well-fed — thanks to the love and specialised care that she received from Darcy Modina, Petrina Paidel, and Marilyn Spletter!
To discover different ways to help those who have been impacted by the recent floods, please visit our blog — Australia’s East Coast Floods | How You Can Help Flood Victims In QLD & NSW.
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