Pud the koala wasted no time in climbing a tree when he was released at Mullaley on Monday.
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The male koala shot out of his carrier and launched himself up the trunk of a gum tree at his old home and settled into the fork of the tree to take in the last of the afternoon sun.
Pud has been in the care of WIRES koala carer Martine Moran for more than a year after landowners found him in a small Bimble Box tree, suffering from burns to his hands, a sore eye and the heat.
Mrs Moran said his road to recovery was a long one because he was in such "poor condition".
He even spent time at the Taronga Western Plains Wildlife Hospital in Dubbo.
"He was months in care to put weight on and then it was too dry [to release him]," Mrs Moran said.
The landowners will keep an eye on Pud to make sure he settles back in but he sure looked happy to be home.