KOALA rescuers fear the Lone Pine fire might have decimated the western reaches of the Port Stephens population.
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More than 9000 hectares of koala habitat from Balickera to Twelve Mile Creek and Karuah has been burnt with little hope of many survivors.
"It could very well have wiped them out," Port Stephens Koalas past president Sue Swain said.
"The firies have told us they saw koalas running from the flames but there was nothing they could do to save them."
Rescuers have retrieved two koalas so far, one of them from the fire ground.
Koolah clung to a blackened tree off the Pacific Highway near the Karuah exit on Monday.
He was transported to Port Macquarie Koala Hospital on Thursday for intensive care to treat a serious chlamydial infection.
They will keep him there for some months until the habitat near Karuah recovers enough to release him.
The group's rescue and care co-ordinator Simone Aurino said the situation further highlighted the need for a Port Stephens koala hospital.
Meanwhile, she said the fireground was "still active".
“We’re expecting the animals that have been injured or displaced in the fire to start emerging shortly.”
Dungog Rob was found at Glen Oak on Monday. The young alpha male was found quite a way from the fire where he was hit by a car.
Rescuers believe he might have been smoked out.
Time will tell if there are more koalas in need of rescue.
“It’s usually a process that takes a while and we actually can’t get on the fire ground until it’s handed over from the fire brigade and deemed safe,” Ms Aurino said.
Only then will the group's volunteers have the chance to survey the burnt area – a practice known as a black walk – to see how many koalas the fire might have claimed.
"We can't do a black walk across 9000 hectares – it's too much," Mrs Swain said.
"We can only hope to find some koalas alive around the edges."
- Port Stephens Koalas rescue: 0418 628 483.