Out of the blue we received a phone call from a very special person, Alan Bryant, who looks after orphan koalas in Ipswich.Koalas are being threatened by a number of dangers, mainly those introduced by man into the Australian environment.
In this case a tiny 6 month-old koala, named Koo-Bor (the Aboriginal word for orphan), had been orphaned when his Mummy was hit by a car. Koob-Bor was still hanging to his mummy's belly when this happened.
Alex and his daddy were invited to meet Koob-Bor, an invitation that was quickly accepted.
When we got to the house where Koob-Bor was staying we learnt that these very special koala helpers worked closely with the Koala hospital at Moggill Ferry. This little hospital, driven by volunteers, saves hundreds of koala's lives every year.
After Koob-Bor was fed he was weighed in a set of kitchen scales. The little koala fitted perfectly into the scales. He was so friendly and fascinated by the young boy who had come to say hello.
Can you guess how much he weighed? Well, it was just under 1 kilogramme.
The special people looking after the koalas had an older boy koala called Woogie. Woogie was about 10 months old and weighed just under two and a half kilogrammes. In people years Woogie would be about 13 years old... and he was as naughty as a teenager.
He loved the special formula that he got and gulped it down very quickly...
Very soon Woogie would be sent back to the koala hospital where he would spend a short time in the "kindy" before being returned to the bush where he was originally found.
Alex's Dad got to hold Woogie before he was put on the specially constructed "koala tree" from which he could feed on his favourite food, eucalyptus leaves.
Both Koobie (Koob-Bor) and Woogie were very friendly, Koobie thought that Mrs Caroline Bryant was his mummy and made funny little squealy noises when his new mummy was nearby.
We also learnt that koala's ears stand up when they are worried, and lean forwards towards their face when they are relaxed, it was funny to see Koobie's ears nearly touching his new mummy when he cuddled up to her.
Young Alex had developed a very special friendship with little Koob-Bor who gazed into his eyes, fascinated by this little person who had briefly come into his life. I think that he wanted to give Alex a message to pass on to Max... what do you think?
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