Main image via Daily Mail
Koalas are on our top 10 cutest animals list and what’s cuter than a koala? A baby koala!
This baby koala however may just take the cake with her little arm cast though how she got it is a sad story.
via GIPHY
The five-month-old joey was rushed to the Werribee Zoo in Victoria, Australia for treatment after she was rescued when her mother fell from a tree in a eucalyptus plantation.
The tiny koala who weighed just 500 grams had fractured her arm and was treated by veterinarians at the zoo.
“She was just at the stage where she would have been starting to poke her head out of mum’s pouch,” Jess Rice, a vet nurse shared. “Joeys that size don’t have a good survival rate in care.”
X-rays revealed that she had fractured her limb in the fall and the zoo’s expert staff – who refused to give up on her, fitted the tiny joey with an adorable arm cast and provided round-the-clock care.
Image via Daily Mail
After receiving her cast, the baby koala began to gain weight and recovered enough strength to explore her surroundings and climb on the back of a koala stuffed toy as she would do naturally with her mother.
Sadly though, the baby koala suffered loss after her mother suffered such severing injuries from falling from the tree that she had to be put down.
Image via Daily Mail
Though the tiny joey was left orphaned, the zoo staff were happy to be able to save the baby who recovered enough to be sent to live with a wildlife carer before being returned to the wild.
“It was really touch and go when she was brought to us,” the vet nurse shared.
With bushfires, deforestation and diseases, koalas have been listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Thanks to care, love and dedication by the zoo’s staff, this baby koala was saved and hopefully it’s back in the wild now.
Thank you zoo staff!
Are you a koala lover too? Let us know!
Info via Daily Mail
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