Koala Phascolarctos cinereus

Koalas are listed as a threatened species in NSW. Their coastal habitat shrinks and becomes fragmented, while human development grows.

Land clearing and housing development affect both the size of habitat and the availability of appropriate food tree species. Although there are many species of Eucalypt in Australia, only a few are suitable food sources for koalas. Popular food trees, though they vary throughout the species’ range, include River Red gum, Yellow Box, Tallowwood, Small-leafed peppermint and Drooping Red gum.

Koalas come to ground to move between trees, and many are killed by dogs. Roads often dissect koala habitat, and numerous koala injuries and deaths are caused by cars. These threats are magnified in the Port Stephens area due to its high human population growth and the proliferation of coastal housing.

Protecting koala habitat

In 2008 the Foundation for National Parks is running an appeal to purchase land for the Australian Wildlife Corridor. Our focus is on the property Kalungra, a property in the New Engalnd region near Tamworth, NSW, that provides habitat for a thriving population of koalas.

Impact of bushfires on koalas

When nature itself strikes koalas with bushfires, the survival of entire populations becomes a matter of minutes and hours. Bushfires kill some koalas directly because they are such exposed animals. On fire perimeters they can be injured, often by being burnt on their paws and noses as they try to climb smouldering trees.

The impact of a bushfire on a koala population depends on how much unburnt habitat with surviving koalas remains with recolonisation as the key to survival.

Fires restrict the movements of koalas in the burnt bush, and populations only remain genetically healthy if there is a small but constant exchange between populations. Results from earlier studies suggest that due to habitat fragmentation bushfires may well lead to the local extinction of many NSW koala populations.

Funded by the Foundation, DEC scientists Dan Lunney, Shaan Gresser and Alison Matthews have dedicated years of research to the impact of bushfires on the Port Stephens koala population. The results of their work have been used in the management planning for koalas not only in Port Stephens but also on a state and national level.

The project started after the devastating bushfires in 1994, which destroyed half of the prime koala habitat in Port Stephens. Along with the dedicated efforts of the Native Animal Trust Fund volunteers to rescue injured koalas from burnt bush and take them into care, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service set up a study to determine the survival of koalas in burnt bush.

The release of rehabilitated koalas into the bush raised questions to whether their survival in the wild would be as successful as their rehabilitation. Radio transmitters helped to monitor the koalas’ movements after release and to collect information such as breeding success of females, home range size, food tree species, health status and the major threats to the individuals’ survival. The study compared breeding success, presence of disease, changes in weight, home range and movement patterns, and the fate of released koalas with those that were not burnt.

Many of the rehabilitated koalas did survive in the regenerating forest but like those that had survived unharmed in the bush, they are threatened by dog attacks as they move through the bush at ground level to find new, unburnt habitat.

The Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife supported both the scientists' work as well as the wildlife care volunteers from the Native Animal Trust Fund.

Studies assist future planning

In 2002 the final Port Stephens Council Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management was approved. Researchers from DEC, including Dan Lunney, were involved in the initial development of the plan. It was completed by Port Stephens Council and the Australian Koala Foundation. A Steering Committee was established to oversee implementation of the Plan. The Committee works on issues such as signage at known koala traffic black spots, clarification of dog control powers, maintenance of fauna exclusion fencing, and community education.

A habitat restoration project has also been implemented, which uses a Koala Habitat Planning Map to protect and restore vital habitat. Restoration activities include weed control and replanting of preferred koala food trees. If you’d like more information on the Plan of Management you can download it from the Port Stephens Council website.

Top of page