In the past four weeks alone he’s operated three orthopedic surgeries on koalas in his Noah’s Ark clinic, all of them destined for release.

“We’ve got a pretty good success rate compared to other clinics,” Dr Hudson said.

“Many of the koalas we treat survive. Sometimes the same koala will get hit three or four times by a car, they’ve sadly got no road sense.”

Dr Hudson picked up the baton from retired veterinarian Rod Starr. In the intervening years he’s worked with the Native Animal Trust and now Hunter Valley Koala Preservation Society.

His consults are free and any treatment is at-cost.

Car strikes are the most common injury – which require plates and pins to heal –  followed by dog attacks that require stitches.

Chlamydia is the third biggest reason koalas come into his clinic and in recent years did form the subject of his masters thesis.

Aesthetically it causes a puss discharge from the eyes and face and it even causes brown bottom. It’s essentially incontinence because the disease causes a thickening of the bladder.

“What’s really concerning is that it makes them infertile which is concerning in a small population,” Dr Hudson said.

“This is one of the reasons we want the koala hospital so we can treat them over a longer period.”

It can take months to completely clear chlamydia with ongoing antibiotics. The medication and simply keeping them in captivity does pose a risk that that a koalas digestive system will shutdown. Hence the need to watch them closely.  

Spring in general is a busy time in the Nelson Bay and Medowie clinics with koalas. The males are especially active, out and about, after a mate.

This brings them into contact with roads and dogs.

“With one dog, as long as it’s not too big, the koalas are generally pretty safe,” Dr Hudson said.

“They curl up into a ball and the they have a plate across their bum that’s quite hard.

“But it’s the dogs that move in packs that present more problems. Urban areas do present problems and its hard to address them; we have to live here too.”

While the population is closely aligned with urban areas the relative isolation of the species has worked in Port Stephens advantage.

It has been shielded from the koala retrovirus – an AIDS-like autoimmune condition – that is prevalent elsewhere on the east coast. It’s an issue not dissimilar to the Tasmanian devil facial tumours.

Dr Hudson, coincidentally, helped with the devil breeding program in the early days.

“It’s one of those things where you say ‘yes’ to one thing and they keep asking you,” he said.

“Luckily, with the koala retrovirus, we’re not finding it in our autopsies.”