01:29Australia: Face oddity! Get lost in Bowie the KOALA's multi-coloured gaze
The Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital recently welcomed a bizarre but adorable addition to their family, Bowie the koala; a very special marsupial, not only for her luck in surviving a near-death experience, but for having two entirely different coloured eyes. Footage captured at the sanctuary near Brisbane in Queensland, Tuesday, gave an insight into Bowie's multi-toned gaze and her dramatic story.
Bowie was admitted to the veterinary hospital after she was discovered in the Brisbane suburb of Brendale, crawling under a car after presumably being hit by a passing vehicle. On finding the animal, the animal handlers quickly saw that the female koala had heterochromia, a rare genetic condition where one of her irises lacks melanin, leading to its lighter colour. Consequently, her right eye is blue while her left eye is brown, much like the famed singer and the koala's namesake David Bowie.
Although the animal's health is now much improved, on first treating Bowie, vets had another nasty shock: "With respect to being hit by a truck, she's fine, she only had some minor bruising, but then during an exam we already found out she had chlamydial cystitis so she's under 30 days of antibiotic treatment," said the attending vet Dr Sharon Griffiths.
Once Bowie is fully recovered she will be released into the wild.
Mandatory credit: Australia Zoo Audio Visual team.
01:29Mandatory credit: Australia Zoo Audio Visual team.
The Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital recently welcomed a bizarre but adorable addition to their family, Bowie the koala; a very special marsupial, not only for her luck in surviving a near-death experience, but for having two entirely different coloured eyes. Footage captured at the sanctuary near Brisbane in Queensland, Tuesday, gave an insight into Bowie's multi-toned gaze and her dramatic story.
Bowie was admitted to the veterinary hospital after she was discovered in the Brisbane suburb of Brendale, crawling under a car after presumably being hit by a passing vehicle. On finding the animal, the animal handlers quickly saw that the female koala had heterochromia, a rare genetic condition where one of her irises lacks melanin, leading to its lighter colour. Consequently, her right eye is blue while her left eye is brown, much like the famed singer and the koala's namesake David Bowie.
Although the animal's health is now much improved, on first treating Bowie, vets had another nasty shock: "With respect to being hit by a truck, she's fine, she only had some minor bruising, but then during an exam we already found out she had chlamydial cystitis so she's under 30 days of antibiotic treatment," said the attending vet Dr Sharon Griffiths.
Once Bowie is fully recovered she will be released into the wild.
Mandatory credit: Australia Zoo Audio Visual team.