About Myrtle

Myrtle was admitted to Lismore Friends of the Koala with her mother, Violet, on 1st August, 2017. The pair were found on the ground at the base of a tree. Violet was very quiet and showed signs of possible trauma. They were transported to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital where they were assessed and admitted into intensive care.

Myrtle weighed just 783g and was transferred to home care. During her time in home care, Myrtle failed to thrive. Other joeys in care of the same age quickly outgrew her and she attended Currumbin Wildlife Hospital on a number of occasions with concerns for weight loss and dehydration.

Now at Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, Myrtle is fine. A release into the wild is out of the question with her.

Signs of hope

When we were in Eastern Australia at the beginning of 2020, the bushfires had devastated large areas of land and killed countless animals. To make at least a small contribution to help, we visited the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie and spontaneously adopted Lismore Myrtle. This is a kind of “crowd” adoption similar to the principle behind the microcredit platform “Kiva”.

The goal of the hospital is to heal and care for injured koalas until they can be released back into the wild. With some of the koalas, however, this is no longer possible due to the severity of the injuries and damage – as with Myrtle. These koalas then find permanent shelter in the hospital’s park enclosure. The hospital is financed through donations and the koala sponsorships. A large number of volunteers keep the business going. 

In addition to these signs of compassion and the commitment of the people, we were very touched by the fact that the forests we drove through had already started to drive fresh green from the burned trunks and branches due to heavy rain. This “green power” of nature (or, according to Hildegard von Bingen, “viriditas” as divine creative power) was another sign of hope for us. We have therefore dedicated a few fotos from the series above to this phenomenon.