WHEN Maddy Pryde saw her first koala in Walloon in 25 years, it should have been a moment of joy. Instead, it led to heartbreak.

“He was a gorgeous, healthy male,” she said.

“We named him Miles. Only hours later, he was killed by a car. That was my first koala sighting in Walloon, and the way I met him still makes me so sad.”

Over the past two years, Maddy and her mother, through their family rescue group Pryde Wildlife, have saved more than 70 koalas across Somerset, Ipswich, the Lockyer Valley, and beyond.

The family assists the Ipswich Koala Protection Society and every Wednesday – their “respite day” from caring for family members – they drive up to 200 kilometres searching for sick, injured, or displaced koalas.

Often, Maddy’s elderly grandmother comes along, folding chair in hand, ready to watch the rescues unfold.

“Disease and dog attacks are massive threats,” she said, “but the biggest is habitat loss. That’s what’s pushing our koalas onto roads and into dangerous situations. We’re losing them far too fast.”

Promises from developers to provide nature corridors have largely amounted to nothing, she said.

“They say, ‘we’re leaving a wildlife corridor’. Then another development comes in right through that so-called corridor. It’s like death by a thousand cuts.”

At Fernvale, Maddy joined a campaign to save critical koala habitat – also home to greater gliders and endangered birds – from bulldozers.

“We caught them knocking down trees without proper permits. Wildlife spotters were supposed to be there, but one was looking at the ground, another was on her phone. “They weren’t checking the trees before or after they came down. It was emotionally difficult to watch.”

Sprawling housing developments at Thagoona are leaving koalas nowhere left to go, Maddy said.

“Koalas won’t be funnelled,” she said. “You can knock down their favourite gum tree and they’ll keep coming back to the stump. And what developers plant back isn’t food – just shrubbery.”

Maddy’s journey began as “outdoor therapy” during the 2020-22 health lockdowns, spotting koalas with her mum.

“We hated the thought of leaving koalas sick in the wild. By the time official rescuers arrived, koalas could be gone. So, we learned how to do it ourselves.”

The work is unpaid, self-funded, and exhausting.

“We’ve had 24-hour rescues. You miss a lot of sleep. But I’d rather be tired than know a koala suffered because we didn’t go,” she said.

“They say koalas could be extinct by 2050. I’d hate to think my niece will grow up only reading about koalas in books, the way I used to read about the now extinct thylacine.

“Even if it feels like a losing battle, we must keep going. Every koala we save matters. Every single one we lose is one too many.”

Koalas in south-east Queensland face a serious risk of local extinction, with fewer than 16,000 estimated to remain in the wild. Experts warn that around 10 per cent of these animals require veterinary care each year, and only half survive treatment. The population is under pressure from disease, habitat loss, and human activity.

Chlamydia is a major threat to koalas, causing blindness, malnutrition, and reproductive issues. Veterinary director Dr Tim Portas of RSPCA Queensland said that without significant action on habitat protection and disease management, koalas could disappear from the region in the not-too-distant future. Although vaccines exist, they are not widely available, leaving treated koalas at risk of reinfection.

Follow Maddy’s rescues here: Pryde Wildlife Facebook