Few people in the sleepy Australian farming community of Inverell knew koalas still lived there. But a spike in callouts to rescue displaced and injured animals has made their presence known, and there are now fears for the survival of this small NSW population.
Last Sunday, WIRES rescuer Tanya Arentz received three callouts for help, two of them before the sun had risen.
"It's not normal. I get a lot of rescues, but not three in just over two hours," she told Yahoo News.
There have been two koalas found up the same pole in five days. The second was up so high the police, the council, and the local power company had to be called for help.
Sadly, when koalas lose trees, it's common for them to seek out street signs and power poles as their last available refuge.
Looking at the last two years of rescues, it's clear to Tanya the number of koalas needing help is skyrocketing. And she believes a lack of trees is playing a major role, with some drying out and others being knocked down for farming.
"To the west, they leave a remnant row along the fenceline, but the heat from the ground radiates up into the tree and dries the leaf out. So, unless there's a significant clump of trees they lose moisture, and that's forcing koalas to move further east into cooler country," she said.
Until two years ago, rescuers received about one or two calls a year, but between July and October 3, this year, Tanya alone has responded to 28. She expects this season's rescue numbers to eclipse last year's record of 46.
On the ground, rescuing every day, she's aware of the problem. But, she doesn't think most Australians are aware of how bad things are for koalas.
On Friday, Tanya was speaking just minutes after dropping off the dead bodies of three koalas that had been recently killed. The first died of chlamydia, and the other two were struck by vehicles.
"I knew one of them from last year when he was attacked by a dog, this year he was killed by a car," she said.
"It's never fun finding bodies of those you've cared for in the past, but it's just part of the process really. Rescuing is not an easy task."
Koalas are listed as endangered in NSW, Queensland and the ACT. While they remain abundant in some parts of Victoria and South Australia, concerns have been raised about their long-term viability in those states because of ongoing habitat destruction and climate change.
In NSW, there is some hope, with the government announcing the creation of a new Great Koala National Park on the state's Mid North Coast, and there is a healthy population in the Blue Mountains. But elsewhere, in the state's southwest, habitat continued to be decimated for new housing developments, and in Gunnedah, which was once known as the state's koala capital, few koalas survive.
Further north in Queensland, government projects are resulting in the rapid decline of koalas on the Gold Coast, and local rescuers fear they could be extinct in the wild there in decades.
It's now breeding season and male koalas are on the move looking for a mate, and also dispersal season when youngsters from last year are looking for new territory. With few trees left, it is difficult for them to cross roads or find habitat for food and safety.
To help conserve what remains of the region's koalas, Tanya has issued a plea for anyone who sees a koala in Inverell to report it to either WIRES or Northern Tablelands Wildlife Carers.
"If they're fit and healthy and near a road, I like to know about it so I can put signs out. If they're injured, I definitely want to know. And if they're dead, I still want to know because it identifies hotspots, and also we can make sure there isn't a joey," Tanya said.