Three koalas on the brink of death are now in the capable hands of Gunnedah wildlife carer Martine Moran.
The koalas were picked up by a team of koala researchers from the University of Sydney while they were conducting a temperature study.
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Mrs Moran has already sent two off to the wildlife hospital at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo and is nursing the third.
Two of them have chlamydia and will need to be treated and one of them had lost 1.5kg in six months.
"They were really gone. I just put them in the shade and cooled them down and gave them some really moist leaf. Getting out of heat was the big thing," she said.
"They've survived and they're eating well."
Mrs Moran has a full house of koalas and said two males are ready to go home but she's waiting for decent rain and consistently cooler temperatures.
"I've had some really sick ones in and they look really good now," she said.
"It's the drought and heat and it triggers chlamydia or they've got chlamydia and can't cope.
"You've got to keep them a long time. Feeding them has been hard, but luckily there are plenty of trees around Gunnedah."
Mrs Moran said wildlife hospitals were filling up and something must be done to help the koalas survive the season.
"They do need something that's quick," she said.
While the career said there's a lack of support nationally, she has been well supported on a local level by Gunnedah Urban Landcare Group and North West Local Land Services.
"I don't know where I'd be without them," Mrs Moran said.
