Westhaven Barry was much loved

In 2008, Barry was found lying in the middle of the road  in very poor condition and close to death.  
He was nursed back to good health and staff discovered he had quite pronounced scoliosis/kyphosis which is curvature of the spine to the side and outwards, a phenomena that is found in koalas, particularly males from time to time.  
Barry became quite a star as even though he may have suffered disabilities he still managed to escape from yard to yard, so the common cry around the hospital was…”where’s Barry?”.  Barry won all the staff’s hearts and throughout his years once we had made a “Barry proof” yard, he settled in to life at the hospital.  
Barry has taught a lot of veterinarians, wildlife carers and researchers a lot about koala spinal deformities.  
This phenomena usually results in a shortened life span for a koala through pressure increasing on the chest cavity so Barry lived much longer than most do.  We all knew the time would come where a humane ending for him would occur and we made the decision on the 2nd July that indeed that time had come.
So when you look up and see the wind blowing through the eucalypts and you hear that rustling sound of the leaves….that is the spirit of the koala calling to you, with Barry’s voice singing along with them.

