In a tale that has to be seen to be believed, Kempsey Koala 'Wazza' collided with a car at an alleged 110km an hour, and not only survived, but managed to cling to the grill for 10km at high speeds.
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Unbeknownst to the driver, 'Wazza', waited for the car to stop at Fredericton before retreating up a tree. Clinical director Cheyne Flannagan is in charge of the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital where the lucky marsupial was patched up, and she was happy to report that the injuries were not life-threatening.
"Considering the speed of the car, Wazza's injuries are quite minor; there weren't any fractures. She had bad gravel rash in a lot of places, but her wounds were bandaged for ten days, and are now healing nicely," she said.
"She is currently in our rehabilitation yards; we have artificial trees she can climb, it won't be long until she is healed, and we can look at releasing her."
For most people, Wazza's miraculous survival might come as a surprise; however, it's nothing new to the clinical director of the Koala Hospital.
"We have had something like this happen before, a koala was struck in Port Macquarie at 80km an hour, she was the same as Wazza, the injuries were relatively minor; unfortunately, it's very common, a lot of the time the koalas aren't as lucky," Ms Flangan said.
"We were happy the driver contacted us in this situation. It's crucial if anyone hits a koala, sees one attacked by a dog, or finds one who is looking sick, to contact us immediately on our 24-hour hotline 6584 -1522."
Koala numbers are in severe decline in NSW and Queensland and Ms Flanagaan urges everyone to be extra careful when passing near the native animal's habitat.
"It is currently breeding season for koalas, and they are on the move, so everybody needs to be on the lookout when they are near any vegetation," she said.
"Scan the side of the roads when driving to be sure no wildlife is coming out, if an accident does happen, call us if it's a koala, or FAWNA NSW Inc for anything else, their number is 6581- 4141.
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