MU3A Publicity Officer Annie Rutter said the group was shown through the Sanctuary, admiring the trees and Australian bushes being carefully tended to make a welcoming home for their ‘guests’.

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“Those guests are the koalas who, for one reason or another, have found themselves at a temporary home,” said MU3A member Patty Henderson.

The Sanctuary dedicates itself to the preservation and conservation of koalas in the wild, while rehabilitating the sick and injured.

Once back to good health, the koalas are usually taken back to their original home.

Most re-integrate, some find it more difficult.

Volunteer guide “Rhonda” explained that some koalas were brought in after being injured in motor accidents, others because infections or other problems make it difficult for them to remain in the wild.

“Among many other things, we were curious to learn that female koalas are quite happy to share their space (their tree), but adolescent males prefer to be on their own and will fight for their own space,” Patty said.

“During the walk and talk, we saw one koala – Blinky – who decided to show off, leaping from tree to tree right in front of us, before proceeding to climb right up to the top of a very slender tree.

“We were assured that the branches wouldn’t break under his considerable bulk.”

Other koalas were seen munching on their own particular brand of leaf – up to 5kg a day, leaf by leaf.

The rehabilitation program drives home how koalas in this region were counted in the thousands just a decade ago, but today they can only be found in the hundreds.

In some zones in which they were once regular, they are sadly no more.

By Thomas O’KEEFE