“Koalas started as just another beautiful animal to observe,” he says. “But seeing the challenges they faced, I became more involved in advocating for their protection, especially after the 2019 Black Summer fires.”
During these catastrophic bushfires, in NSW alone, it is estimated that 64,000 koalas lost their lives as 5.5 million hectares of bushland were consumed by flames.
Les can now recognize many of the local koalas on sight, and for those he can’t, he uses the unique black and white pigmentation markings on their snouts to identify them. It turns out that the koala we’d spotted, after following scat and claw marking clues, was two-year-old Scratch. Then just 500 feet from where we’d parked, we spot a very sleepy Milly.
“If I had to pick one, my favorite would have to be Franklin,” says Les, although you can tell he loves them all equally. “He used to live in my street before Gary, a bigger male, pushed him out. Franklin has been rescued six times in the past year and is currently being cared for by WIRES for ulcers.”
