Koala Hospital

Koala Hospital

Picture book
Conservationists, animal lovers, and anyone who can't resist
cute will be enchanted with Suzi Eszterhas' Koala Hospital. It tells
the story of an institution which most of us have no clue as to its
existence. While the critters it serves are ever so cute, they are
thankfully not Disneyfied. For most the hospital is a temporary
sanctuary with release into nature the goal.
For more than forty years the Koala Hospital on the coast of
Australia has been treating koalas (who BTW are marsupials, not bears)
who are hurt or ill. In a world where people neighborhoods replace
stretches of forest and highways separate trees, it should be no
surprise that many of those creatures are bitten by dogs and hit by
cars and in need of medical care. Many joeys (infants) lose their
mothers before they are weaned. Foster parents willing to do wee hour
of the night feeding and round the clock snuggling tend to them
carefully until they are ready for an outdoor enclosure and then
freedom.
At the end of the book we learn how encroachment of habitat
destroying civilization makes the survival of koalas increasingly
precarious. Children as far away as Maine are given ways they can
help save koalas as well as closer to home wildlife.
On a personal note, my precious Joey cat had his winter check up. He
passed with flying colors. Dr. Julie says he's the picture of feline
health which is excellent for an older special needs cat who almost
died in April. Words can not express how my heart is filled with joy
to have my little friend still with me, especially when he curls up on
my lap, purring, while I read near our beautiful Christmas tree.
A great big shout out goes out to Joey's medical family: the Veazie
Vet crew.
Julia Emily Hathaway





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