- When Hayley Shute from Forresters Beach, NSW, rescued her first Aussie native at just 14, she fell in love.
- Landing a full-time gig at the Australian Reptile Park, Hayley became a surrogate mum for koala joeys.
- Bringing the joeys into her loving home, Hayley rears the joeys alongside her kids.
Here Hayley tells her story in her own words
Perched on the couch, I bottle-fed a baby flying fox.
‘You’ll be big and strong one day,’ I smiled.
Aged 14, I’d rescued my first native animal from the bush surrounding our Central Coast, NSW, home.
My parents, John and Christine, quickly got used to having injured baby bats hanging on our clothesline, and watching me brush their soft fur with a toothbrush.
The following year, I did a week of work experience at the Australian Reptile Park, a 20-minute drive from home.
I loved being around the kangaroos and Tassie devils. And when I was 17, I started volunteering at the park every weekend.
After studying science at uni, in 2002 I got a full-time gig at the park as a mammal and bird keeper.
Marrying my husband Trevor in 2007, we had our son Beau in 2008.
While pregnant with our daughter Isla in 2010, I hand-raised my very first koala joey, Archie, when his poor mum was sick.
Bringing him home each night, at just 300 grams he was so tiny and unwell our team didn’t have high hopes for him.
As my bump grew, I got lots of practice caring for my koala bub.
Just like a human newborn, Archie needed 24/7 care.
I bottle-fed him, and he slept tucked into my pyjama top in a little pouch.
When he cried, I rocked my sweet boy back to sleep.
A special bond blossomed between us, and Archie began to thrive.
‘Where are you, Isla?’
After roughly six months, just before I gave birth, Archie was reunited with his mum at the park.
I earned the name ‘The Koala Whisperer’ – and was proud of it.
In 2015, we welcomed our baby girl Indy, making us a family of five.
But our house already felt full with all the animals from the park who needed extra attention.
‘Where are you, Isla?’ I called out, then found my giggling girl playing hide and seek with a kangaroo joey named Marsy, who had a broken leg.
‘They’re a natural with the animals,’ Trevor said of our children.
I often brought home possums, wombats and quolls, but cute cuddly koalas were a favourite.
And I’d often let my kids name our newest additions.
When I brought home a tiny koala weighing just 280 grams in 2019, Indy, then four, who was obsessed with the movie Frozen, begged, ‘Can we name her Elsa?’
Elsa’s mum had mastitis and had pushed her bub out of the pouch onto the ground.
‘I’m here, buddy.’
Elsa became part of the family, and the kids were devastated to say goodbye to her after six months.
But we were glad she was back with her mum.
When Elsa fell pregnant in January 2023, I was thrilled. Koala joeys stay in their mother’s pouch for about six months, but four months in, Elsa began losing weight.
If she’s losing weight, she might stop producing milk, I worried.
Monitoring her, it was clear she wasn’t getting better, and I made the tough decision to gently remove her bub from her pouch early. Elsa’s baby boy was a teeny 190 grams – he’d be the smallest koala I’d ever hand-raised.
Naming him Albert, he was weak with big ears and a tiny adorable face.
I hope they both pull through, I worried.
Bringing Albert home while Elsa recovered from mastitis, I made sure the kids, then 14, 12 and eight, knew they couldn’t hold him until he was bigger.
The 15th joey I’d reared, I was an old hand, but tiny Albert required extra love.
‘Can we name her Elsa?’
Placing him in a woollen pouch inside a special heat box, he was kept toasty warm.
But he cried through the night like a newborn.
‘I’m here, buddy,’ I whispered, letting him sleep on my chest in his pouch.
Feeling my heartbeat, his cries eventually softened.
Drinking milk from a bottle, Albert grew bigger.
And after four weeks, he was 312 grams.
Being Albert’s surrogate mum, he was with me every second. Raising him alongside my kids took some juggling.
While I prepared dinner, and even did the grocery shop, my shadow was with me.
And when Albert was big enough for eucalyptus leaves at six months, the kids would go and pick the yummiest ones for him.
They’re my little apprentices, I smiled.
As Albert got stronger, he’d cuddle his toy koala and sit with the kids as they did their homework.
And while his human siblings watched cartoons, he’d snuggle up with them on the couch.
When Albert was almost one, this February, after living with us for seven months, he was ready to be reunited with his mum, my beloved Elsa, who’d made a full recovery.
Watching them bond was a precious moment.
Now 14 months, Albert is thriving in koala preschool at the park.
When he’s four years old, he’ll move into our conservation breeding program, like Elsa did, to help populate the highly endangered species.
Our beloved Aussie icons are in danger due to disease and habitat destruction.
They need all the support they can get and every single koala counts.
Trevor and the kids – now 15, 13 and nine – often visit Albert, now four kilos, and it’s been amazing to see his progress.
Our furry friend has been a little fighter since day dot.
