A TAMWORTH company has played a vital role in the rescue of scores of koalas from the state's bushfire-affected regions.
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Monitor Lifts' iconic Monitor 1890 Spider Lift has allowed arborists to access scorched trees and trapped wildlife.
Similar to a cherry picker, the lift allows crews to scale burning trees while being prevented from falling; they also operate on tracks to reach difficult terrain.
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Monitor Lifts general manager Ben Joyce said he was proud to see his company was helping Australia's most vulnerable animals.
"A client of ours for the last eight or so years is working over in the Port Macquarie region and has been using the equipment to help rescue the koalas," Mr Joyce told the Leader.
"It's nice to know our equipment is making such a significant impact during such a devastating time.
"The ability for our equipment to go into these sorts of terrains is what sets it apart, so to see it doing something like this is very special."
Once rescued, the koalas have been taken to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital for treatment, many for burnt paws and wounds.
AQF 5 Arborist's Peter Berecry said the lift had been "a real game-changer".
"The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital have been calling on us to rescue koalas for over 10 years now," Mr Berecry said. "We used to climb the trees and attempt to get close enough to bag-capture them.
"This was usually not successful, especially on larger species.
"The introduction of Monitor Spider Lifts has been a real game-changer.
"There are not too many that we cannot rescue now."
Mr Berecry said the equipment had helped full-grown and baby koalas.
"We can safely access the canopy with two operators and retrieve koalas that may be hard to handle, such as mothers with small joeys on their backs or that are severely injured.
"Recent bushfire casualties with severe burnt claws and wounds can be ... retrieved with care, and bagged without causing too much stress."
Mr Joyce said he was hopeful the equipment could be used in future bushfire disaster zones.
"We are a fourth-generation Tamworth family and have been in this business for more than 25 years," he said.
"We now have sites in Tamworth, Melbourne and Sydney with equipment for hire and for sale.
"There is certainly scope to use this gear in future incidents such as this.
"We'd be really proud to see this equipment do more good work like this in other fires across the country.
"Honestly, we know how hard the drought is hitting, so for our company to be helping to bring some good news to the community is really special."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
