Koala pair set for chill out

By Paul Dunlop
TWO fine furry fellows are the new star attractions at Bimbimbie Wildlife Park.
They are believed to be the district’s firstever captive koalas, and proving to be well worth their weight in gum leaves.
Benny and Beau came to Paul and Francine Davy’s Mount Burnett wildlife park about six weeks ago from another wildlife park in Barwon Heads, where they were bred and born.
Aged about five to six years old, both have settled comfortably into their new surroundings, Mr Davy said.
“It’s great for us. We’ve always wanted to have koalas. But they take a lot of work and so we wanted to make sure we had everything else right before we took them on,” Mr Davy said.
“They’ve really settled in and even gained weight since they arrived so that’s a really good sign.”
Koalas are known for eating but keeping them well fed and healthy is much more than a case of throwing them a few tree branches of gum leaves.
Mr Davy said park staff spent at least two hours each day collecting the best quality leaves from up to half a dozen species of gum trees, all of which — fortunately for them — grow on the sixhectare Paternoster Road property park between Emerald and Pakenham.
“The leaves are handpicked from the very tops of trees, they only eat the freshest tips,” Mr Davy said.
“Koalas are probably the most expensive native animals to keep.”
Mr Davy underwent training at Healesville Sanctuary before Benny and Beau arrived at Bimbimbie.
Mr Davy said if koalas were not comfortable they could become extremely stressed, hence their stateoftheart enclosure complete with sprinkler system.
The koalas’ pen was purpose built. On hot summer days, the tree trunks on which the koalas spend most of their time are watered so they can keep cool.
“They lie flat out with their stomachs pressed to the logs. On New Year’s Eve (when the temperature rose into the mid 40s) the logs were watered five times a day,” Mr Davy said.
Benny and Beau are not related but get along really well together, Mr Davy said. However, that would most likely change if their circumstances were altered, meaning a Betty is unlikely to become part of the Bimbimbie mix.
“A female on the scene would certainly add a bit of tension,” Mr Davy said.
Bimbimbie is open throughout the school holidays.