Kevin The Koala

• Lochie Martin, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2014

Kevin Koala tried to find the entrance to his mother’s pouch. He was only just born hairless, pink and blind. Kevin’s mother kept a protective eye on her joey as he made his way up her belly to attach to her teat. Once Kevin was safe inside her pouch and attached the mother koala tightened her muscles closing of the pouch.
After six and a half months feeding on his mother’s milk, Kevin came out of her pouch but didn’t go far. Kevin climbed onto his mother’s back because he was afraid of the large owls roosting nearby.
Kevin’s mother began feeding pap to Kevin to allow his body to get used to eating the 20 varieties of eucalyptus leaves that koalas eat.
Just before Kevin turned 1, a bush fire raged through the koala’s habitat, killing many of the native wildlife, including Kevin’s mother.
Kevin’s soft thick brown fur had been singed, his thumbs had been burnt and he was now homeless.
A volunteer fire fighter found Kevin next to a fallen tree on the side of the road. He gently picked Kevin up and wrapped him in a towel to keep him warm, and calm. The fire fighter also gave Kevin a drink of water before an animal rescue person arrived to take Kevin to be assessed by a vet.
The vet examined Kevin and found that his thumbs were badly burnt and he would be unable to climb trees. He advised that the koala be kept at the animal rescue until he could demonstrate his ability to climb and grip.
Kevin met another Koala at the rescue, his name was Bob. Bob had a disease called Chlamydia which had made him blind. Due to his blindness Bob had wandered too close to a road and been clipped by a car. Kevin was glad to have another koala around, he wasn’t used to interacting with humans.
After a few months Kevin was fully healed and ready to be released into the wild. An animal rescue person put Kevin in a cage in the back of a truck and drove him to a National park full of eucalyptus trees. They put the cage on the ground near a cluster of trees and opened the door and backed away to give Kevin some space to adjust to his new habitat.
Kevin was feeling anxious, but slowly made his way out of the cage and looked around at his new home. After making his way up a tree, and the animal rescue person left, Kevin was alone.
A week had passed and Kevin was used to his home, he had a few trees that he liked to climb between as they had his favourite leaves on them. He slept away most of his day and at night he would swap trees.
The End.