Koalas are a national icon and loved, not just in Australia, but globally. But these beautiful animals need our help; they aren't officially endangered yet but they are vulnerable and we shouldn't wait until they are endangered to do something.
September is Save The Koala Month and September 29th is Save The Koala Day. Nature, our planet and animals are very important to us at Flora & Fauna so we want to talk a little more about these amazing marsupials.
There are estimated to only be 40,000 to 80,000 left in the wild. So why the decline? The main reasons are, sadly, due to humans. We're clearing land and clearing koala's habitat. This results in:
- Stress on koalas resulting in being more susceptible to disease
- Impacts on reproduction
- Starvation
- Injury or death from traffic, dogs and cats
- Overcrowding leading to increased competition for food and territory
Koalas live in colonies and need to come into contact with other koalas; they need habitat large enough to support other koalas and they need the right habitat so ideally eucalyptus trees but there are other varieties they live in too.
What can you do to help?
There is lots you can do to help whether you live in a koala area or not. If you live in a koala area:
- Support local koala community groups
- Plant koala food trees and do your research to find out the ones that are favourites of koalas in your area
- Be careful when driving especially at night
- Keep your cats inside and make sure your dogs are inside at night
- Koalas can fall in swimming pools so leave a sturdy rope in your pool tied to a tree so they can climb out if they need to
If you don't live in a koala area you can help by learning more about koalas and educating others, writing to politicans and newspapers with your concerns and supporting the Australian Koala Foundation. Koalas are protected but gum trees aren't. We might not get those protected but what about gum trees in known koala areas so we protect those habitats. We find the Government wording around Koala protection is more around how we can get around policy as opposed to how we can save this species.
At Flora & Fauna we have adopted a koala called Wattle. Wattle is actually not any one koala, Wattle represents all the koalas in the wild. You can adopt a koala too at the Australian Koala Foundation. We are also raising money to plant trees and help build their habitat.
So let's help these amazing animals and protect and help them flourish for the future.
