Each year, Australia’s hot summers and dry weather cause fires to rage across the continent. In fact, this year, record heat and dry conditions are putting Australia at risk of an intense fire season.
To that end, koalas, which are slow moving creatures, along with joeys (baby kanagaroos) are the most prone to be fall victims of these impending fires, sure to cause many of them to become orphaned and in need of desperate medical attention.
Earlier this year, following a devastating rash of brush fires, the International Fund for Animal Welfare found itself in need of bandage coverings for koalas and pouches for other Australian native wildlife like possums, kangaroos and wallabies.
So, they asked animal lovers worldwide to make and donate simple cotton mittens to cover the bandaged paws of koalas, and pouches for orphaned joeys (joeys need to be kept warm and quiet in a pouch-like environment so caregivers use sewn pouches) that were receiving treatment in their facilities.
As Australia’s hot and dry season approaches, Australian wildlife will be in need once again.
Gulliver Academy’s sixth grade International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme design students have answered the call by sewing mittens and pouches to the design specifications provided by the IFAW. Thanks to their handiwork, boxes of carefully crafted koala mittens and joey pouches have been made by the students and are now headed from Gulliver Academy to the Land Down Under.
