Nifty to the rescue
A koala rescued by Port Stephens Koalas with its newly donated Nifty 120T EWP by Nifty Australia has been named ‘Nifty’ in the company’s honour.
Little Nifty (her full name is Nifty Latty since she was found near the ‘Latitude One’ retirement complex) is suffering from several different ailments that were making her feel very unwell.
She has chlamydia, a common disease among koalas. Nifty Latty is getting lots of TLC and is being fed lots of lush leaf. Her favourite is melaleuca which is commonly known as paperbark. Nifty Latty is a sub-adult female, probably aged about one, would not have been living away from her mother for long.
It could be a few months before Nifty gets back to the bush where she belongs, and the sanctuary volunteers will use the donated Niftylift EWP in her release.
The Nifty EWP is a reconditioned 10 year tested Nifty 120T donated to the Port Stephens Koalas by Nifty Australia to assist in the rescue of the young animals in bushland on the outskirts of an area recently affected by bushfire.
The sanctuary is employing the Nifty 120T during rescues, food collection and releases back into the wild. When using electric power, trained volunteers can pluck a sick or injured animal from a tree without adding any more trauma to the already unhappy animal.
The Sanctuary is accepting donations to assist with the costs of medical treatment, food and lodging for Nifty and other rescued koalas. To donate to Port Stephens Koalas visit: https://portstephenskoalas.com.au/product/nifty-latty/
Koalas endangered
While the koala is currently listed as only a ‘threatened’ species, unless the NSW government takes immediate action and declares them ‘endangered’ they will be extinct within 30 years in the wild in NSW according to a disturbing Parliamentary Enquiry which predicts their extinction by 2050.
Sanctuary CEO Ron Land said the report paints a very bleak future for one of the world’s most loved animals and said the number of koalas in Port Stephens has declined rapidly over the past decade.
“Our estimation is there are between 200 and 400 koalas in the wild in Port Stephens. That number has plummeted over the past two decades.”
