WPSQ Bayside Branch

The koala, Phascolartos cinereus, is a marsupial, meaning that the female has an external abdominal pouch (called the marsupium, from which the name 'Marsupial' derives) in which it rears its young through early infancy.

The koala is a short, stocky animal. Its soft fur is grey in colour on the back, fading to white on its belly. It has a broad face, with a naked nose and small eyes. On its front paws, it has two claws facing backwards to help with climbing. On its back feet, two toes have fused together, but retain two claws. They are powerful climbers, and can use their sharp claws to defend themselves. Koalas are generally 60 to 80 cm high, with males being larger than females, and northern animals being shorter than their southern cousins.

Both males and females have territories. The male territory will overlap with those of a number of females. Males use calls and scent marking (the scent gland is visible on the chest of the koala in the photograph) to identify their territories. The calls are grunts and growls, which really spoils the 'cute and cuddly' reputation their appearance has gained for them. Individuals will generally lead a solitary existence within their home range.

Koalas regulate their body temperature in two main ways. To keep warm in cold or wet weather, they will curl up in a ball. In hot weather, they will lie on a branch, with their limbs dangling in the air. This allows the air to circulate over their body, helping to keep them cool.

Koalas are strong and agile climbers, and will also jump from branch to another. Although an arboreal animal, the koala must come down to the ground to move from one tree to another. They run on all fours, but are quite vulnerable while on the ground. Koalas are also competent swimmers, when necessary.

The koala is famous as a consumer of leaves from eucalypt trees. Of the hundreds of species of eucalytps in Australia, koalas show a preference for about 50 species. In difficult times, they will eat the leaves of other trees, such as callistemons and melaleucas. Factors, such as the time of year, will influence which particular species of tree the koala will use. A koala needs to eat about 500 grams of eucalypt leaf each day, preferring the tips of the branches where the freshest shoots grow. This adds up to quite a bit of leaf, so they need to move about between trees to get all the food that they need.

The eucalypt leaves eaten by the koala are low in nutritional value and provide little energy. For this reason, the koala is generally inactive, sleeping up to 20 hours each day. The digestive system of the koala has evolved specifically to deal with a low quality diet. The caecum (equivalent to the human appendix) is up to two metres in length, and contains bacteria which do much of the work of breaking down the leaves so that the koala can absorb the nutrients.

The eucalypt leaves also contain toxins the tree produces to discourage animals eating the leaves. Koalas show a preference for trees growing near watercourses, perhaps because these trees produce less toxin, making the leaves more palatable.

The koala rarely drinks, instead getting water from the leaves that it eats, and occasionally from rain water clinging to leaves. In fact, the name of the koala is believed to mean 'no drink' in some Aboriginal languages.

Breeding season is in the warmer months of the year - August to March. Koalas seldom breed before the age of two years and they generally only have one young per season. There have however been well-documented cases of twins.

In the warmer months of the year, a 500 milligram, 2 centimetre baby is born about 35 days after mating. This baby is not yet fully formed and has no fur. From the birth canal, this tiny pink baby must crawl up through its mother's fur, find the pouch and attach itself onto one of the teats. Having achieved this Herculean feat it can now settle in the mother's pouch, feed and grow. It will stay in the pouch for around six months after which it will be carried on its mother's back for perhaps another six months. It will be independent by the age of 12 months, but may stay with its mother for several more months before finally moving away in search of a home range for itself.

Destruction of habitat is the greatest threat to the koala in south-east Queensland.

It is for this reason that WPSQ Bayside monitors development in the Bayside area and lobbies government in an endeavour to have the needs of koalas and other wildlife considered in development planning.

Unfortunately habitat is continuing to be lost. This is primarily due to existing land tenure, prior approvals and a lack of adequate State and local government planning legislation and policies.

While it is difficult to ensure consideration for koalas and other wildlife in new developments it is possible for each and every one of us home owners / occupiers to make a difference in our own back yard. By planting a variety of local native grasses, shrubs and trees - particularly koala food trees - we will be providing habitat and food for a variety of local wildlife and also provide ourselves with a lot of pleasure. Add a bird bath, a nestbox or two, and you can create your own wildlife haven.

Dogs are very loyal and will usually defend their owner's property. Unfortunately the dog's territorial behaviour can often lead them to attack native wildlife, including koalas, if they intrude into the area. Many dog owners mistakenly believe that their dog would not attack or harm a koala, however, as the local wildlife ambulance and carers can attest, they often do.

Any dog can attack regardless of it general nature and with only one bite can often serve a death sentence to a koala. In fact there are a large number of koalas attacked and killed by dogs every year. The koala has large claws for climbing and these could cause some damage to a dog but koalas are not built as fighters and have little chance of successfully defending themselves against a dog attack.

So can dogs and koalas live together? The answer is yes! There a few simple things that dog owners can do to ensure that their dog is happy and they have the joy of observing some of our wonderful wildlife.

Allow your dog the freedom of the yard during the day and turn it over to wildlife at night. Even if your backyard has little vegetation it is likely to be used as access to other areas. Confine your dog and cat at night. Other alternatives are to confine the dog on your veranda or in a smaller fenced yard near the house. The dog will still have its ears on alert for intruders, but it will not be at liberty to attack our precious wildlife.

If the worst should happen in spite of all your precautions and your dog does attack an animal call for help immediately. There are two possible numbers to call - Daisy Hill Koala Centre (07) 3299 1032 or National Parks and Wildlife Service (07) 3202 0200.

Hundreds of koala are killed on roads in south east Queensland every year. The peek times occur from August to December when male koalas begin moving about more frequently looking to breed and maintain their territories. This is also the time when the young are being dispersed and seeking to establish a territory for themselves.

Most of the koalas struck by vehicles have been hit on suburban roads. Roads that are high speed are the biggest killers. A koala has a much better chance of surviving an accident with a vehicle if that vehicle is travelling at 60 kph or less.

While koalas move about mostly at night, daytime movements also occur and therefore care should be exercised at all times.

A speed trial was conducted over 5 years in the Redland Shire to ascertain if reducing the speed during the hours of darkness would have any effect on Koala mortalities. Regulatory signs were erected on selected roads, declaring the speed on those roads to be 60 kph during the hours of 7 pm and 5 am. After a five-year trial the project was declared a failure, as the number of koala deaths on those roads had not fallen.

However, the Bayside Branch was critical of this decision, as it was felt that a number of factors had not been considered including the following:

The amount of traffic on the roads had risen markedly thus increasing chances of collision between cars and Koalas

Urban development had since expanded significantly reducing the amount of koala habitat thus forcing koalas to cross the roads more frequently in search of food and shelter.
Speed restrictions on the road at night were not enforced and observations showed that few vehicles adhered to the specified reduced speed limit.

It is felt that the educational value of the signs was one of the greatest elements of the trial and although it was deemed a failure there was undoubtedly many local residents who became aware that koalas were being run over on their local roads. It is very hard to measure the value of such education and awareness but we feel it was grossly underestimated when the trials were deemed to have failed.

It may surprise many people to know that native animals including koalas fall into and drown in backyard swimming pools.

It is assumed that these animals fall in to pools when attempting to drink. The koala is a fairly strong swimmer but once in a pool they can rarely get back out without assistance and will almost certainly drown once exhausted.

To address this problem, pool owners are asked to make some provision for wildlife to escape should they be unfortunate enough to end up in the pool. This might take the form of a timber plank large enough for an animal to climb up onto being placed over one corner of the pool (provided the water level is higher enough to the plank.) Alternatively a thick rope may be tied at one end to a convenient post and the other end dangled in the pool where an animal can climb up it if necessary.

While fences are necessary for many pet owners to contain their pets a fence can pose a major problem to native wildlife. Many native species require access to several yards to obtain sufficient food to survive in the urban environment. Fences can block them from these essential food sources.

Where possible try to have trees or poles adjoining or against the fence to allow koalas and other wildlife relatively free passage. Fencing can also be of value to keep koalas out of areas where dangerous dogs are contained.

Disease, whilst occurring naturally in most koala populations, only has a significant impact on numbers and health of the population when the animals are unduly stressed. The main threat to populations is the viral infection known as Chlamydia.

Chlamydia is perhaps the most prevalent organism which manifests itself in times of stress, causing four common diseases: conjunctivitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infection and reproductive tract infections.

Chlamydia is painful and is most often seen as a form of conjunctivitis and dirty or wet tail. If you see a koala that may be suffering from any illness, please contact the Daisy Hill Koala Centre on (07) 3299 1032, so that treatment can be administered if practical. Left untouched Chlamydia can mean a long and painful period leading to death.

There are few natural predators of the koala. Young koalas are most vulnerable and are susceptible to predation by Powerful Owls or large Carpet pythons. However such occurrences are rare and are insignificant compared to the human related threats and impacts.

The main predation of koalas these days comes from introduced ferals like the Fox and from domestic pets.

Koalas readily survive many fires particularly when it is a low level fire i.e. one that that only trickles through the undergrowth. In the event of a major fire or crown fire i.e. one that burns up and into tree tops and moves quickly due to fuel loads and wind velocity, most koalas have little chance of survival. They are not mobile enough to run from a fire. In addition when an area is severely burnt the trees can take years to recover thus making the area unsuitable for recolonisation by koalas during that period.

While bushfires are a threat it must be remembered that the Australian landscape and particularly eucalypt species rely on fire for a healthy ecology. It is only when the fires are too frequent or extensive that there is any real threat to a local population.

Unfortunately, in recent years there have been local and interstate areas that have been subjected to intense or excessive burning often resulting in large koala mortality. Sadly, it is believed that many bushland fires today are deliberately lit.

Drought can cause stress to koalas as during a drought eucalypts will drop a considerable amount of its leaf cover and the level of toxins in the remaining leaves can increase making them less palatable. Drought has its worst impact on population that are surviving within marginal areas. This is particularly so when drought conditions follow good conditions in which the localised koala population had increased as a result. The drought will cause a sudden reduction in food availability and combined with the higher population numbers results in direct competition between koalas for the remaining food resource. The young and old usually succumb first and as with most natural process the fittest and strongest individuals are those who survive.

Despite stories put about by those wishing to downplay the importance of the koala in the Redlands area, the koala is certainly a native of the area. Property developers and others, wishing people to believe the koala is not worthy of local protection, spread the rumour that the koala was introduced from Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

The Fossil Record The koala comes from a group of animals dating back to the Oligocene period, about 25 million years ago. Twelve different, now extinct, species of koala have been identified, including the Koobor, the Perikoala, the Litokoala and the Madakoala. The koala is smaller than its predecessors, but they all shared a common morphology; in particular, scientists have been able to use fossilised teeth to establish the relationships. This group is now represented by just the koala, Phascolarctos cinereus. This raises the question of whether the koala is doomed to follow its ancestors into extinction.

Aborigines The koala has been a food source for indigenous Australians. Although Aborigines have been implicated in the extinction of some of Australia's megafauna, it is doubtful that they have had a significant impact on koala populations.

European arrival The first recorded encounter with a koala by a settler was not until 1798, ten years after British settlement, although koalas were presumably in reasonable numbers in the Sydney area. Scientific interest followed, with the New Holland Sloth appearing in 'Perry's Arcana' in 1810. However, the koala was not formally described until 1863, when naturalist John Gould described the species and its habitat.

The Moreton Bay settlement was declared open to free settlers in 1842, and a burgeoning timber industry was soon established. This obviously had a significant impact on many species, the koala included, as food and shelter trees were removed. In the Redlands area, much land was cleared for farming. Areas inland, such as Mount Cotton, were unsuitable for farming, so were left largely untouched.

The Pelt Industry Along with wombats and possums, koalas were targetted by trappers to provide pelts for export. Figures for the 1920's show that over a million koala pelts were being exported each year. This slaughter caught the public's attention and was vehemently opposed by Queenslanders, including Brisbane's Courier Mail. The Courier Mail published a letter in July, 1927 saying that "an open season for our politicians would be more in accord with the feeling of the public, but I am afraid their skins would not be as valuable."

Fur trading was greatly reducing koala populations around the country. They were considered extinct in South Australia in the 1930's. Koalas were finally protected in Victoria in 1898, and New South Wales in 1903. Queensland did not follow suit until 1927, following sustained public pressure. However, trade in koala pelts continued after this time by their skins being labelled as wombat or possum skins.

Urbanisation Following World War II, a lot of land in the Redlands that had not been cleared for farming was turned over to housing estates. In 1965, Alexandra Hills came into existence, with all its associated houses, roads and other infrastructure. This led to fragmentation of remaining habitat, which leads to great difficulties for many species.