news, latest-news, koala, rescue, picton, road, Vanja Henderson

Vanja Henderson gave no thought to her own safety when she dashed into traffic on Picton Road to save a koala from certain death last week. But she wishes the koala had never been on the road. The Wilton resident has since called on the state government to install overpasses, underpasses and fencing on Appin Road and Picton Road. The rescue has received national media attention and she hopes the daring rescue prompts the state government to act. “At about 7.45am on Thursday, I saw a koala in the middle of Picton Road,” she said. “The road was chock-a-block with trucks and cars flying past at 100 kilometres per hour. “I pulled over where I could and a young man, Carlton Elias, stopped next to me because he had almost struck the koala. “I frantically asked him to help me save it. “We had to run to save the koala. We ran as fast as we could. My heart was beating so fast. “I kept my eyes locked on the koala. “When we reached the koala, we only had seconds to pick him up and run across the road before there was oncoming traffic. “It was the most amazing moment to save the koala. It was great to see him run up into the tree.” Ms Henderson said she was sick and tired of seeing dead koalas on the road. “I have seen so many roadkill deaths on Heathcote and Appin Road,” she said. “I would love to see overpasses, underpasses or fences built on Appin Road. “The fences can’t just be in a couple of short sections. It need to extend the entire length of the road.” Ms Henderson supports the government’s promise to install koala fencing along Picton Road but believes more fencing also needs to be provided along Appin Road. She is also calling on the government and council to consider koala habitat when approving new housing developments. “It absolutely breaks my heart that our poor koala habitat is being destroyed,” she said. “The government and councils need to stop destroying koala habitat because they want to build homes. “Corridors need to be a reasonable distance from developments, humans and cars. “No gum trees equals no koalas. “At the very least, prevention measures such as fences and crossing would be amazing.” Ms Henderson thanked WIRES volunteers, such as local rescuers Ricardo Lonza and Sara Goodwin, for raising awareness about koala roadkill deaths and advocating for wildlife safety measures.

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