TEENA Lamond and Shiara Henderson had one question for Simone Aurino after she took them through what to expect when you are a Hunter Koala Preservation Society carer.
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“When can we start?”
Ms Lamond and Henderson, who are housemates and work together at Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters, visited Ms Aurino at her Anna Bay home to learn about becoming koala carers.
“I’ve done a lot of work for NATF [Native Animal Trust Fund] in the past, worked at Oakvale [Farm and Fauna World]; I’ve done pretty much everything but care for koalas,” Ms Lamond said.
“We want to be able to help the native animals.”
The housemates reached out to the society after they rescued a koala from a fence of their Salamander Bay home.
“We see koalas in the trees outside our house all the time,” Ms Henderson said.
“One night I walked outside to do something and the cats are just staring up at the gate at something. It kind of freaked me out.
“I turned the light on and saw it was a koala. I yelled out to Teena. I think it [koala] was stuck.”
Ms Lamond carefully picked the koala up under its arms, lifted it off the fence and put it on the ground. The animal scampered away and up into a tree.
As the society’s care and rescue coordinator, it is Mrs Aurino whom prospective carers will first meet.
The Examiner joined Mrs Aurino when she met Ms Lamond and Henderson in September.
During half-an-hour Mrs Aurino spoke frankly with the pair about the highs and lows of being a carer, what they could expect and what the next step in the process of becoming a carer would be – going on a rescue with a member to observe.
The women also met a koala Mrs Aurino had in care – Artie, which had been found in a Muswellbrook mine site in the middle of September – and learnt about what has gone into nursing him back to health.
While it was a friendly meeting, it was also frank.
Mrs Aurino did not sugarcoat the work the society’s volunteers undertake.
But it did not discourage Ms Lamond and Henderson, who asked when they could start.
The society is not only in need of koala carers, but volunteers skilled in areas of administration and IT.
To volunteer or donate visit the HKPS Koala Care and Rescue Facebook page or call 0418 628 483 or 0432 086 804.
