Rescuing koalas is no easy job. For starters there is the practical reality that a koala's favourite place is high in a gum tree. But for a rescue sanctuary south of Rockhampton, a Queensland Government funding boost has just made their job a little easier.

Oscar the koala relaxes at the Australian Animals Care and Education Centre (AACE) at Mount Larcom with his best friend. (ABC Capricornia:Jacquie Mackay)

Australian Animals Care and Education Centre (AACE) at Mount Larcom has been awarded just over $16,000 to help them rescue koalas and provide them with a sustainable food source.

"It will help with us for equipment for leaf cutting and maintenance. It will also help us build two more enclosures to house rescued koalas, also some rescue equipment that we can pick up koalas, move them and get them to vets," said AACE founder Tina Janssen.

"We'll [also] be able to plant a thousand trees and manage them. So in about three years we'll be hopefully cutting fodder for the koalas from our own trees. It is very exciting."

The centre cares for sick, injured, and orphaned animals, as well as running dedicated breeding programs for both hairy-nosed wombats and bridled nailtail wallabies.

The sanctuary has been helping koalas for the last decade and currently has two in its care.

"We've got Phoenix who came in from German Creek out near Middlemount. She had actually climbed a power pole to the railway line and got electrocuted. She's in our care for a few more months yet but doing well," Tina said.

"And we've got little Oscar and he was a baby born to Billabong Sanctuary in Townsville and his mum died from lymphoma.

"They contacted me and I offered to raise him and so he'll go back up there in a few months.

"They're not easy but it's a very rewarding thing to do, to be able to rescue a koala, turn it around, and get it back out into the wild."

Catching a koala

Tina say koala populations in central Queensland have become somewhat sparse, but there are still pockets where they can frequently be found.

"I think there is quite a population out near Clermont, up the back of Marlborough up in the ranges out there. I have had calls from Blackwater for the odd koala," she said.

"We've still got populations, I think they're fairly fragmented which is always a problem to our species.

"But they are there and I think it's important that we recognise that they're there and we do everything we can to protect their habitat and look after them."

When the sanctuary gets a call to rescue an injured koala, it can involve hundreds of kilometres of travel and days of waiting.

"It can be a very long process, particular if you've got a sick or injured koala up in a 60 foot gum tree. We don't go climbing trees, we're not monkeys," Tina said.

"Sometimes you can spend hours, sometimes even up to a day or two waiting to try and help that koala.

"They're actually a fairly fragile animal and they don't do very well with injuries. Quite often they don't make it past the vet with their injuries."

Tina says especially during September, which is Save the Koala Month, people should remember that koalas are an integral part of the Australian bush habitat.

"Everyone needs to reflect that we're losing species very quickly, and when they're gone, that's it - we can't bring them back," she said.

"I think everyone needs to be mindful that all these animals play an important role in the ecosystem."