A joint treatment program involving veterinarians at the Department of Environment and Science (DES) and the RSPCA has resulted in a previously ailing koala being safely returned to the wild.
The koala, nicknamed Sweetheart, now has clear eyes after being treated for conjunctivitis.
Veterinarian with the RSPCA, Tim Portas said a member of the public noticed the koala in a tree on The Hollow Road at Josephville in October.
“Thankfully the member of the public knew the koala was virtually blind through illness and wrapped him up and contacted the RSPCA,” Dr Portas said.
“The koala was taken to the RSPCA Queensland Wildlife Hospital at Wacol where he was diagnosed with severe conjunctivitis in both eyes,” he said.
Dr Portas said Sweetheart’s condition made him in danger of being hit by a car, getting attacked by a dog or starving to death.
“Sweetheart also had superficial lesions on his body, a wound to his muzzle and he’d lost hair in patches on his right forearm,” he said.
“He was treated by the RSPCA for five days and when he was eating and had settled down, we transferred him to the DES Moggill Koala Rehabilitation Centre for further treatment.”
Veterinarian with the DES, Stephanie Shaw said when the koala arrived at Moggill, his conjunctivitis had improved.
“He still had obvious keratitis, or inflammation of both corneas, and although he was eating we weren’t sure if he was suitable to be released back into the wild because we were worried about corneal scarring,” Dr Shaw said.
“Treatment included injections of chloramphenicol antibiotics, eye medications for severe conjunctivitis and minor surgery on both eyes to reduce the proliferative conjunctiva.”
After Sweetheart recovered from the minor surgery, he was found to have little corneal scarring and no vision impairment.
“After being at our Moggill facility for 21 days, we released him back into bushland near where he was found,” Dr Shaw said.
