Australian Koala Hospital Raises Over 2 Million Dollars in a Bushfire Rescue Mission

An online fundraising campaign set up by a koala hospital in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, has raised more than $2.25 million to rescue and rehabilitate koalas dehydrated and burned by devastating recent bush fires.

Thanks to donations from over 45,000 people, the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital’s Help Thirsty Koalas Devastated by Recent Fires campaign has raised $2,291,100 on GoFundMe as of January 1^st 2020, outshining the initial $25,000 target.

The Koala Hospital’s fundraising page included a message highlighting their plans on how to spend the increased funding, starting with upgrading the setup of automatic drinking stations from twelve to 100 and sharing them with other wildlife organizations in fire affected regions across NSW. There will now also be a water carrying vehicle with a 1,000 litre water tank to refill the drinking stations. Additionally, the hospital announced it is using the excess funds to establish a Wild Koala Breeding Program.

“Because of the decimation of the wild koala population in NSW we are investigating the establishment of three breeding areas, all controlled and genetically managed to ensure the ongoing survival of healthy wild koalas,” a message on the campaign’s GoFundMe page read.

“We want to assure everyone who has donated, that all money raised will be directed to the Wildlife Water Drinking Stations project and the establishment of the world’s first, Wild Koala Breeding Program. Both these projects will be used to obtain vital information and research for wildlife rehabilitation after bush fires.”