Koala rescue: An orphaned joey, and her species fight for survival
When Kailas Wild saved a baby koala, it gave him hope for the future of a whole species under threat.
One morning in February, after the worst of Australia s devastating bushfires had smoldered out, Kailas Wild headed out into the charred blue gum plantations of Kangaroo Island, off the country s southern coast.
A tree surgeon who had come to the island to help rescue koalas in the aftermath of the blaze, Wild was worried to see how much of the foliage that they depend on for food was burned. Then, something else caught his eye: a gaunt baby koala curled up in the blackened leaves, her coat visibly scorched.