Hugo's story, from rescue to release
Hugo, on the mend
Little Hugo was left orphaned when his mum was hit by a car in late 2019.
A caring member of the public stopped to assist when they saw what had happened. They were certain that they saw both mum and her joey get hit, but they couldn’t find little Hugo anywhere at the scene and called in for assistance.
Our RSPCA Animal Ambulance was joined by the Redlands After-hours Wildlife Ambulance (RAWA) and together we searched for the little joey throughout nearby bushland, but to no avail.
The following morning RAWA received a call from a mother explaining that her daughter had come home distressed last night after hitting a koala with her car. Being young and alone on a dark country road, she was too scared to stop.
That morning, little Hugo was found behind the grill of the car -- despite a 10km drive from the scene of the accident, he was still alive.
Our Animal Ambulance and RAWA were able to free Hugo from the grill, taking him to the RSPCA Wildlife Hospital at Wacol where it was discovered that he amazingly had not sustained any major physical injuries.
After close monitoring by our Wildlife Hospital team, Hugo was given the all clear and an experienced wildlife carer was found to help Hugo on his journey back to the wild. Little Hugo quickly gained weight, grew, learnt to chew leaves and climb small trees.
Before long Hugo was transferred to our RSPCA rehabilitation facility where he learnt to pluck his own leaves and climb bigger trees. He was thriving!
In April, Hugo was ready to return home in the Bayside Conservation area and Wildlife rescuer John released Hugo in a safe area, away from busy roads.
Rescues like Hugo’s wouldn’t be possible without our amazing wildlife carers, ambulance officers and rescue groups, so thank you.