The best boys, getting better.
A koala hospital has opened up in a primary school near Adelaide, Australia to nurse injured koalas back to health.
Volunteers at the Paradise Primary School are currently looking after upwards of 100 koalas rescued from the devastation of the bushfires.
Thousands of koalas have suffered burns and been orphaned as a result of the raging fires, with many more perishing in the blazes.
It is believed that up to one billion animals have died overall since last year’s bushfire season began.
Jane Brister from Adelaide Koala Rescue told the Daily Mail that 150 people are working round the clock to ensure that as many koalas as possible are nursed back to health.
“We’ve had a few come in that were just singed all over,” she said.
“It’s almost as though they were curled in a ball when the flames (hit), the heat just went straight over the top of them.”
Once the koalas are rescued they are taken to the ‘hospital’ and sorted into difference pens depending on their status.
Most of the koalas have suffered burns from the fires, with many more being orphaned.
Others have chlamydia, an infection that affects approximately 20 percent of the koala population. Others are so badly burned that they must be euthanised.
Brister said that working at the makeshift hospital has been “overwhelming.”
“We’ve got a lot of people on our team who have seen things that they can’t unsee, who are going to need counselling,” she said.
“We’ve got team members who are traumatised because they want to be out there 24/7.”
The koalas that can be treated for their illnesses at the hospital are released back into the wild once they are strong enough.
A GoFundMe page for Adelaide Koala Rescue has already raised over $180,000 since the bushfire season began.
