Orphaned Baby Koala Is Fitted With A Tiny Arm-Cast After She Fell From A Tree

Oct 15, 2019

It’s possible you have seen an adorable toddler with a cast that’s melted your heart. It’s even cuter seeing small casts with a bunch of signatures. 

Fortunately for humans, if an accident resulting in injury occurs, you have the option to visit a hospital or physical therapist.

For animals in the wilderness, where do they go when they get hurt? What happens when a baby koala and her mother suffer a horrible tree fall?

Luckily, a five-month-old koala joey was saved. Although her mother did not survive the fall, leaving her an orphan, the Werribee Zoo veterinarians stepped in and saved her life. Based on the joey’s age and the severity of the fall, the odds were against her survival.

“She was just at that stage where she would have been starting to poke her head out of her mum’s pouch. Joey's size doesn’t have a good survival rate in care,” says vet nurse Jess Rice according to Metro News.

Knowing this, the Werribee Zoo did not give up. In an X-Ray, the staff realized that the koala joey was only suffering from a broken arm, so they created the cutest little fix: a koala cast. With around the clock surveillance and lots of TLC, the baby joey began recovering. With the premium care of the zoo, she was even able to gain weight. When the Werribee Zoo evaluated her, they determined while she was making progress, it was necessary to be transferred to a wildlife specialist carer.

Unfortunately, every koala joey doesn’t have this happy ending. Since 1990, around 95 percent of the koala population has declined. Because of the dwindling number of remaining koalas, the Australian Koala Foundation has officially ruled them a vulnerable population.

Wildlife, despite many people’s disbelief, are a big part of our ecosystem. It is important to take necessary steps to protect it, especially since many animals are either declining or facing extinction.

Like this cute little joey, after losing her mother and suffering a horrendous fall, the Werribee Zoo stepped in and gave her a second chance. Hopefully, she will never need another adorable cast.

Have you ever seen such a tiny cast before? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass this article along!