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More than other animals, koalas have suffered particularly from fires. Murielle Paradon / RFI

The fires continue to wreak havoc: 25 dead in 4 months, millions of hectares of forest destroyed and enormous losses for wildlife. The already endangered koala has been decimated by the fires. 400 km north of Sydney, the coastal town of Port Macquarie is home to a hospital for koalas that receives wounded marsupials.

With our special correspondent

In the wooded garden of the hospital, huge eucalyptus trees and large cages with indoors, convalescing koalas. In one of them, there is Buzz, curled up on a tree trunk. He was injured in a fire and was taken to hospital for treatment.

" Buzz is a victim of the fires , says Sue Ashton director of the koala hospital, look at his ears, they were badly burned. And its legs had to be protected for 4 to 5 weeks. He suffered a lot ”.

The marsupial is doing better, but we don't know if it will be able to climb eucalyptus trees which are its main food. Otherwise, Buzz cannot be released into the wild and must remain in the hospital for life.

The establishment, created in 1973 by an NGO, welcomes wounded or sick marsupials. Right now, around sixty koalas are being treated, including thirty for burns due to the fires. It is double compared to usual.

Once in the hospital, they must be rehydrated, treated for their wounds and then protect their legs for weeks so that they recover. And if the conditions are met, they are released into their natural habitat.

A national tragedy

More than other animals, koalas have suffered particularly from fires. " They can't run away from the fires ," says Sue Ashton. They climb trees, are caught in the flames and die charred ”. Difficult in this context to have precise figures of mortality because one does not always find their body.

Other koalas die from dehydration because they can no longer find food, the eucalyptus forests have been ravaged by fire or drought.

The hospital director is worried about the future of the species. “ You should know that koalas only make babies every two years, and we have lost hundreds or even thousands in a few weeks. That means that it will take an enormous amount of time for them to make babies and for the population to renew itself… It is a national tragedy ”.

The koala hospital, part of which is open to the public, received more than 5 million Australian dollars (3.3 million euros) in donations within a few weeks. An exceptional outpouring of generosity to save this unique species.