Well Alex was joined at the operating theatre by Tony's 4 year old boy, Lachlin.
The first part of the operation was fine and the boys enjoyed touching the soft hair of the anaesthetised koala. It was a big koala, Tony had told Alex
that they age the koalas from looking at the wear on their teeth. This koala was about 5 years old.
Tony came in and prepared the needle which would deaden the feeling around
the eyes of the koala (rather like the injection a dentist gives you when fixing your teeth). The boys watched intently with Lachlin, who had seen
it many times before, explaining to Alex what to expect next.
Tony started working on the poor koalas eyes. The koala was totally blind with
conjunctivitus because it had picked up the bacterium, Chlamydia Psittaci, out in the bush. Often koalas starve to death once they go
blind because they cannot see where they are going or where to find
koala food.
After a while the operation in and around the koalas eyes all became too much for
Alex who squeamishly covered his eyes. To Lachlin this was nothing new - he had seen his dad save the sight of many koalas before.
While Tony worked hard on the koala the boys started to lose interest or their stomach
for the operation and they started to explore and talk about things that they saw in this remarkable little hospital.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this excellent and unique koala hospital is that the skills of great vets like Tony Woods are provided on a totally voluntary basis. The koala hospital is run with very little government support. If you would like to support the koala hospital please contact Tony Woods.
Return to Alex's visit to the koala hospital.