Skip to content

Valentine

    Valentine arrived here on the property in late September 2022. Supporters of Koala Gardens quickly choose his name due to his beautiful heart shaped nose pattern.

    A close up of Valentine as he sleeps in a tree. His right arm is resting on a semi vertical branch shown in the lower left hand corner of the photo. His head is resting on this arm. His dark nose and heart shaped nose pattern are in full view. His ears are lowered and his eyes are closed.
    Against a background of leaves and facing right, Valentine is sitting in the fork of a tree, holding onto the vertical branch in front of him with all of his paws. His nose is pressed against the same branch, giving the impression that he is smelling it.

    At first Valentine appeared to be in good condition. However in November, Katrina noticed that his left eye had become infected with chlamydial conjunctivitis. She used a trap and caught him quickly. That very afternoon, she took him to the local Friends of the Koala Hospital. The treatment was a success and we released him back home again at Koala Gardens. Since coming back, he has continued to be a regular Colony member in 2023. Valentine is a fully adult male, moving across many areas of the property. We think that he has become the alpha male at Koala Gardens this year. He was seen here 142 times, but he moves over large distances daily.

    Valentine turned 4 years old during the year 2024. At this age, male koalas reach their full maturity. Therefore, we have been able to watch him maturing and bulking up as he moved from sub-adult to fully mature adult. We love to see how he has developed, as 2024 progressed it we saw Valentine establish himself as the alpha male of the colony.

    Large male koala Valentine is sitting in a tree surrounded by leaves. He is looking over his left shoulder showing his round face to camera His heart shaped nose pattern is visible on his dark nose. His eyes ae open and he looks alert. His red identification tag from Friends of the Koala is visible in his left ear.

    In late October 2024, Katrina  noticed Valentine was starting to get a bit of a sticky left eye. Luckily  she  was soon able to trap him and take him into the hospital where he was found  to be in generally good health, although in addition to his eye problem he had an ear infection too

    Because he had conjunctivitis he was tested for chlamydia. Initial tests came back negative meaning that  his eye problem was likely linked to his ear infection. Our relief at this good news, because we all know how insidious chlamydia can be, was only temporary, as a second test returned a positive result for the disease.

    A close up of large male koala Valentine’s face as he looks over his right shoulder to camera. His dark nose with its heart shaped nose pattern are prominent. As are his white chin and large fluffy ears. His eyes are open, he looks relaxed. The tight close up offers a view of the texture of and shading in his this brown-grey fur.

    Valentine’s  ear infection was nasty and proved hard to clear up and the treatment for it  and the treatment for chlamydia could not be given together, meaning that Valentine would be away from Koala Gardens for longer than originally expected. Fortunately Katrina was able to provide him with some yummy leaf to remind him of home.

    Valentine responded well to treatment and returned to Koala Gardens in mid- December. At the hospital he was vaccinated against chlamydia, so hopefully will be free from the disease going forward.

    On Valentine arriving back at Koala Gardens, Valentine lost no time in letting the colony know that he had returned. Listen to Katrina explaining what happened to Valentine:

    Valentine has lots of video on YouTube  and even has his own playlist. (below). He appears in the Koala Gardens Happenings for 2022 , 2023, 2024 and 2025

    Join the Colony and get involved

    You can become part of the Koala Gardens Colony by adopting Valentine or one of the other resident wild koalas. You can also become a Patron,  and one level has an adoption option.

    Come and discuss Koala Gardens and all things koala on Discord where we hold lots of interesting and often in-depth discussions there. Lots of fun!

    You will become part of the family and help  provide much needed koala habitat.

    You can also follow Katrina and the Koalas on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

    Koala Gardens publishes a small number of delightful illustrated children’s books in the The Adventures of Mist series. Check out the beautifully engaging and educational design. Our mission is to help children to “Fall in love with Nature”.

    You can even find some great Koala Gardens gifts over at Redbubble where there is huge range of designs on an even bigger range of items.

    Alternatively, you can find quick access links to everything Koala Gardens via Link Tree.

    Valentine is in a tree. Facing forward, his features are partially obscured by leaves and branches. His fluffy ears, white chin and large dark nose are prominent, his heart shaped nose pattern can be seen. His eyes are open.