A lone koala spent a long night on top of a power pole in the main street of Canungra last night, leading locals to ask the question: “Is this the price of progress?”
The koala was spotted on the pole at 3pm on Tuesday afternoon, with locals thinking he would climb down on his own.
This morning it became evident that he was unwell and needed assistance.
Former wildlife carer, Gary Robertson, along with Phil Campbell and Nina Hanley, used pool poles and a net to encourage the koala to climb down from his precarious position.
Nearby, signs for recent residential developments stand, along with the cleared acres of an over 50s housing development, as a backdrop to what the koala has lost.
While Gary, Phil and Nina were transferring the koala into a dog crate to be transported to WIRES, Phil said two women doing a koala survey came past.
“They had a look at him and said he hadn’t eaten for a while,” Phil said.
“We thought he might have been clipped by a car but it doesn’t look like it, he’s just not in a very good way.”
The koala was being transported to national wildlife rescue service, WIRES.
Read more in the next edition of The Canungra Times, out on July 5.
