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Baby Koala Given Mini Arm Cast After Breaking Arm In Fall From Logging Plantation Tree

Baby Koala Given Mini Arm Cast After Breaking Arm In Fall From Logging Plantation Tree

The adorable marsupial was brought to Werribee Open Range Zoo by an animal carer last month.

Lisa McLoughlin

Lisa McLoughlin

A tiny baby koala has been fitted with a mini-cast to repair a broken arm after it fell from a tree on a logging plantation.

The adorable marsupial was brought to Werribee Open Range Zoo by an animal carer last month after it survived the fall at the Victorian bluegum plantation.

Unfortunately, the koala's mother was severely injured by the fall and had to be euthanised, but the orphaned joey fought on.

The teeny creature, who was just 150 days old, weighed less than half a kilogram when it arrived to the zoo at a time it would usually still be in its mother's pouch.

Speaking to the Geelong Advertiser, Veterinary nurse Jess Rice said: "It was really touch and go when she was brought to us.

"She was just at the stage where she would have been starting to poke her head out of mum's pouch. Joeys that size don't have a good survival rate in care."

Incredibly, the joey is making a strong recovery after round the clock care and is being fed with a marsupial milk replacement through a syringe.

Werribee Open Range Zoo

And while the little fighter is going from strength-to-strength, the zoo soon discovered when she came in that her right arm was broken when it underwent had an x-ray.

After the discovery, they fitted the joey with a teeny tiny cast was fitted to help mend the injury.

Vet nurse Jess said that she decided to give the joey a surrogate mother in the form of a stuffed koala toy.

She added: "Bonding and company is really important to a joey of that age. Koala joeys are often given toys to provide comfort and teach them how to hang off the fur like they would with their mother."

Werribee Open Range Zoo

Last week, the joey was released to an animal carer for the final months of its recovery and is expected to be released back into the wild in about a year's time.

Featured Image Credit: Weribee Open Range Zoo

Topics: Life News, Real, Australia