The impacts of the severe weather conditions we've been experiencing in Central Queensland lately are being felt far and wide.

Phil McAuley, Site Supervisor at the BMC Braeside Borefield recently stumbled on a resident koala looking worse for wear.

"I could see that she was out of sorts and gave her some water to rehydrate," Phil said.

Photo: Gum Drops not long after Phil found her.

The local team are extremely protective of the local fauna, particularly the koalas, knowing that a continued lack of water, high temperatures and the real threat of fire could decimate the population in the area.

With Central Queensland currently under Extreme to Catastrophic Fire Danger rating, Phil was sure to keep a watchful eye on the koala they aptly named Gum Drops, and noticed a drop in her energy when they checked in the following day. Coincidentally, Braeside welcomed a long awaited 28mm of rain just before finding her - and from the photo, you can see she was welcoming the rain too.

"She had taken some comfort in the puddles but the usual tree climbing energy had disappeared," Phil said.

Noticing a moving belly when Gum Drops sat upright, they made a call to the Fauna Rescue Whitsundays (FRW),  caught Gum Drops and took her into the local collector based in Nebo for closer observation.

They confirmed Gum Drops, who is six years old, was in fact carrying a very small baby inside her pouch. The pinky joey is around the size of your thumb.

They are both now in the caring hands of FRW’s Walkerstone Sanctuary and on the road to recovery.

Phil, Reece and Shane are looking forward to welcoming Gum Drops and her new addition back to the Braeside Borefield soon.

Photo: Gum Drops recovering in the FRW Walkerstone Sanctuary