Teddy needs lifesaver dead or alive

Photo / Jim Eagles

This tiny baby koala needs a new mum - and carers say even a dead one would do.

Teddy was orphaned when a car killed his mother, and wildlife carer Kirsa Veal says he has almost no hope unless she can extract a gut compound vital to his health from another koala.

The flora in the gut of an adult koala will protect Teddy's stomach against the toxins in eucalyptus leaves he will eat later.

Ms Veal collected some from his dead mother, but needs more as he struggles to gain weight and avoid infection, the Herald Sun reported.

She hopes locals in Victoria will help find a road-kill female koala who can be used to save Teddy.

"At less than 300g, Teddy is incredibly vulnerable to infection and without the pap produced by his own mother will need a substitute source from elsewhere."

Good Samaritans discovered Teddy almost a month ago when they stopped to drag his dead mother from the road.

"They saw his little paw and retrieved him," Ms Veal said.

"If everyone stopped and checked the carcass of Australian wildlife killed on the roads, many, many more babies could be saved."

Ms Veal's Kolora Koala Shelter is near Terang and Warrnambool.

- Staff reporter