A day in the life of a koala rehabilitator

Start of the Mosswood day

By 8 a.m., I'm awake again. We can have up to 14 joeys in care at a time, and it's time for the second bottle feed for the smallest joeys-and the official start of the Mosswood day.

The first thing to do is laundry. The amount of washing our dedicated volunteers do is enormous. Pouches, teddies, and blankets keep joeys warm and comforted in their baskets, and towels cover areas the koalas use. Everything needs to be washed and dried so that we can use them again.

We then feed all the koalas and I do a general health check to ensure they're recovering well. Then, we head outside to clean enclosures, replace towels, and top up the water containers.

Next, I check on the other wildlife in our care and clean their enclosures. We often have penguins, seabirds, raptors, other birds, echidnas, possums, bats, and lizards undergoing rehabilitation. Soon enough, it's time for more laundry and cleaning. We clean any used carriers, baskets, or boxes from wildlife that was brought in the day before and wash the milk bottles.

If we have any new animals or if any of the ones in our care have health changes, I call our volunteer veterinarian to assess them.

Before lunch, I attempt to return emails and calls and hope to have some time to grab something to eat myself!

Time for lunch…for the animals

My lunch plans are usually derailed, as we often have at least one new rescue to attend to. A volunteer will usually respond, but if none are available or if it's a complex rescue, I go out myself.

If we don't have any rescues that day, I'll drive to our soft release site to check on the newly released koalas. The soft release site acts as a pre-release area where they can explore treetops while also remaining in a space that is fenced and monitored.

Time for more laundry.

At 2 p.m., I feed the small joeys their third bottle of the day.

I then assist our volunteer veterinarian with any wildlife being assessed, treated, or, sadly, euthanised. Unfortunately, about 85% of wildlife that comes into our care is euthanised. This is because by the time an animal arrives, they've already been sick or injured for a while, and their chances of recovery have significantly decreased. That's why every successful rehabilitation and release is so important.

When our veterinarian is done with assessments, I clean and sterilise the treatment room so it's ready for the next patient.

Then it's time to head outside again and set up enclosures for any new wildlife in care.