A koala is nursing a sore head this week after an unfortunate but miraculous midnight encounter with a Holden Commodore on the weekend. After wandering onto a rural road in Adelaide’s southern hills region, the koala was struck with force by the car.
Fortunately, the driver stopped to assess the damage and, on closer inspection, found the marsupial in an unlikely and precarious position at the front of the car.
The koala was firmly wedged inside the front grille of the Commodore. Two local rescuers from the Southern Koala and Echidna Rescue (SKER) responded to the driver’s call for help and arrived at the scene at Kangarilla just before midnight on Saturday.
They carefully worked to free the koala they named Axle from the car. He was checked by a vet on Sunday and miraculously escaped with just a scrape and a sore head.
It’s not the first time a koala has been found stuck in the grille of a Holden Commodore. Source: Southern Koala and Echidna Rescue Ltd
(Southern Koala and Echidna Rescue Ltd)
“I think he’s got quite a headache,” SKER operations manager Mish Simpson told Yahoo News Australia on Monday.
“We’ll keep him for a week before releasing him. He’s on pain relief but is recovering well.”
Not the first time a koala has been stuck in a car grille
Incredibly, it is not the first time SKER volunteers have found a koala in the grille of a car after a road collision.
Mish recalled a similar incident seven years ago, also involving a Commodore.
“The lady hadn’t actually stopped on that occasion, she knew she had hit something, but didn’t know what,” Mish recalled.
“She drove about 20km from Willunga to Seaford at 100km/h with a koala stuck in the grille of her car. He didn’t have a happy outcome because he had a broken elbow we couldn’t fix.
“She didn’t even realise. She stopped to get petrol and someone pointed it out. But, this incident is looking like it will be a much happier outcome.”
Axle is nursing a sore head but is recovering well this week. Source: Southern Koala and Echidna Rescue Ltd
(Southern Koala and Echidna Rescue Ltd)Koala rescues reach record numbers for wildlife group
SKER said the unusual incident provides another good reason to stop if you think you may have hit something. One phone call to the rescue group’s 24-hour hotline made all the difference.
It’s been a busy week for the South Australian wildlife rescuers who received many calls for help after animals became unsettled by the heatwave to hit the state last week.
Mish said when the heat backed off, the koalas were on the move and became victims of road collisions and dog attacks.
“We got inundated last Tuesday and had 19 koalas come through our clinic, which is a record day for us,” she said.
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