It was a still weekend morning in Mansfield when passersby noticed a small grey figure perched awkwardly inside the Belmont substation on Wecker Road. What looked at first like a shadow on the fence turned out to be a young koala. He was stranded in the restricted zone, sitting motionless among the humming towers and wires.
For almost an hour, that Saturday, 31 August, rescuers and bystanders watched as the koala barely stirred. He looked worn out, his head low and body slumped.
Volunteers from Koala Rescue Brisbane South Inc. arrived quickly, but strict safety rules meant they couldn’t step inside with their usual long-handled nets. This was not the kind of place anyone expected to find wildlife, and it was far from safe.
Help came from an unlikely source. An Energex worker, familiar with koala handling, stepped forward. With a smaller net supplied by the rescue team, he gently scooped the animal into safety. The koala did not resist. His rescuers later described him as lethargic and disoriented, a far cry from the lively tree-dwellers locals are used to seeing.
The koala, soon given the name Sparky, was taken to the RSPCA Wildlife Hospital at Wacol for treatment.
A Visitor at the Warehouse
Only three days later, koala eyes were on Mansfield again — this time for a very different reason.
At around 4:00 a.m. on Monday, 4 September, Kerry Krebs arrived for an early start at MJS Floorcoverings, a warehouse tucked into the industrial side of the suburb. Switching on the lights, Krebs noticed movement near the roller door.
There, padding across the concrete, was another koala. Unlike Sparky, this one showed no sign of distress. She followed Krebs with surprising ease and soon wandered straight through the open roller door, curious about her new surroundings. Before long she found herself in the samples room, nose twitching as she inspected the stacked flooring displays.
Krebs, calm but cautious, closed the door to keep the animal safe and rang Koala Rescue Brisbane South just after 5:30 a.m. Within minutes, volunteers arrived to guide the visitor back into her natural setting. By sunrise, she was climbing trees in the nearby bushland, leaving behind little more than paw prints on the warehouse floor and a story that staff will not soon forget.
Koalas in Unexpected Places
The two rescues — one somber, one light-hearted — show how koalas continue to navigate the built environment around Brisbane. Substations, warehouses, backyards and fences are not where most people expect to find them, yet each year rescuers respond to calls just like these.
