WIRES Central West volunteers co-ordinated the rescue with help from an Essential Energy crew and arborist Oliver Shoemark.

In the end it was a three-person job to bring the koala to safety as Kerrie Pearce from WIRES went up in an Essential Energy cherrypicker with electrical technician Troy Stapleton while Mr Shoemark sat high in the tree to stop the koala escaping down the other side.

Ms Pearce said it was believed the koala had been in the tree for seven days and had become increasingly stressed.

An attempt to rescue it on Wednesday night ended badly when the koala tried to flee but was mauled by a dog before clambering back up the tree.

When volunteers arrived back at The Lagoon on Thursday the koala had made its way to the very top of the 15-metre high eucalypt.

Mr Stapleton first ushered it a couple of metres down the tree using a plastic bag on the end of a pole before Ms Pearce joined him in the cherrypicker to complete the rescue.

As it was brought to ground it was clear the koala had suffered facial and ear injuries but a veterinarian will provide a full assessment of its physical condition.

Ms Pearce urged people to let WIRES know if they come across stressed or isolated wildlife.

“Sometimes it will just be a case of us asking the person to continue monitoring the animal but other times we might need to rescue it,” she said.

Another volunteer, Louise O’Brien, said koala rescues were becoming more common in the region.

“We used to do maybe one a year but now it might be half a dozen,” she said.

“It’s not that there are more koalas around, it’s because they are being pushed out of their habitat as more land is cleared.”

The WIRES phone number is 1300 094 737.