The population of Australia’s most endangered koalas appears to be stabilizing, but experts warn their numbers are still too small to withstand large-scale bushfires and drought.
The Redlands coast east of Brisbane was once home to koalas, but the population has declined by about 80 per cent since the early 2000s.
Although estimates vary, Redlands Council believes the koala population in the area is currently between 350 and 500.
Experts attribute the decline to habitat loss due to urbanization and deaths from road accidents and dog attacks.
Koala conservationist Debbie Pointing said it would be a travesty to lose the Redlands koala population. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
Losing an iconic marsupial is sad for those who have dedicated their lives to their conservation.
Koala Action Group chairman Debbie Pointing said: “It will be a travesty for future generations.”
”If they get thrown out in the name of progress…I think that’s a really tragic situation.”
But there are now signs that the remaining population is holding up.
salvage mission
Since the late 2010s, Redlands City Council has been working with university researchers to try to halt population decline.
A mobile app was launched in 2020, allowing local residents to record koala sightings and report illnesses or injuries to wildlife guardians.
Some koalas are fitted with Bluetooth ear tags that can communicate with an app to inform users about koalas in their area.
Some koalas on the Redlands Coast have been fitted with Bluetooth ear tags, allowing local residents to learn their names through a smartphone app. (Provided by: Una Sandeman)
“The idea is to get local residents to become guardians of their local koalas…so they can go out and check them regularly,” said Dr Douglas Carlin, a researcher at Griffith University.
Reducing the number of road fatalities is also a priority.
Dr Carlin is part of a team aiming to improve road signs, experimenting with artificial intelligence to warn drivers of nearby koalas in real time.
The cameras are being used to train artificial intelligence to recognize koalas in real time, paving the way for smarter road signs. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
“We have cameras monitoring the roads and if they detect a koala, they can flash warning signs to drivers to ‘slow down,'” Dr Carlin said.
Early last year, Redlands City Council commissioned a team from Griffith University and researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast to test whether the conservation project was working.
Population stable but vulnerable
Neither university has found evidence of a significant decline in koala populations in the Redlands City Local Government Area since 2019.
“This is good news. Koalas are essentially the only species in Australia where urban populations are stable in parts of Australia where they are listed as endangered,” Dr Karlin said.
Griffith University researcher Dr Douglas Carlin said it was good news that koala populations were stabilizing, but they were still at serious risk. (ABC News: Charlie MacLean)
”[But] The population remains very small and remains at extreme risk. ”
”Floods, fires, etc. could wipe out this population.”
Graham Simpson, head of environmental regulation at Redlands City Council, said the findings could pave the way for further action.
“There are things that are proving to be effective, particularly in helping local koala populations that are under pressure from the effects of urbanization.”
Road signs have been installed at the popular Koala intersection to remind drivers to slow down. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
“It’s absolutely essential that other levels of government and even private industry buy into some of what we’re doing,” he said.
Koala defenders aren’t celebrating yet
One of Australia’s best-known koala advocates says he fears news that the population is stabilizing will distract from the threat of urban development.
“I’ve basically spent my entire career counting carcasses,” said Deborah Tabbert OAM chair of the Australian Koala Foundation.
Ms Tabbert said her organization had been tracking koala numbers in the Redlands, Brisbane and Logan City local government areas since the early 1990s.
“At the time there were probably 50,000 koalas there, and I have recorded that 46,000 of them have declined.”
Australian Koala Foundation president Deborah Tabbert says more habitat needs to be protected to prevent koala populations from going extinct. (ABC News: Charlie MacLean)
She argued state and federal environmental laws were failing to stop logging of important koala habitat.
The latest flashpoint has been Ormiston College, which plans to expand its campus, which will see around 600 trees in koala habitat destroyed.
Redlands City Council opposes the development, and the private school is now seeking permission from the state government to proceed.
The school said the development would have a “net ecological benefit” as more eucalyptus trees, which koalas use for food, would be planted in the center of the school grounds.
”[Currently] “We have around 50 koala food trees among other trees,” Ormiston College principal Michael Hornby said.
Local koala advocates claim Ormiston College’s proposed campus expansion will wipe out hundreds of trees used by koalas. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
“and [we want] To get over 500 points. ”
There is also disagreement over whether the Ormiston College Tree is a permanent or temporary habitat for koalas.
Last year, the school commissioned an environmental consultant to assess its development plans and determined that the level of koala use was likely to be “temporary”.
Tabart and local supporters disputed the discovery, arguing that it would take about 10 years for new trees to reach maturity.
“Are they going to ask the koalas to pack up and move somewhere offset? [in the meantime]? ”
Tabbert said.
The Australian Koala Foundation has long advocated for a national koala protection law that would ban the felling of trees within the koala’s geographical range.
“There is virtually no habitat in Redlands.” [left] Located more than 2 km away [from major development]. ”
“Those koalas… [already] It is functionally extinct and will not exist within 50 years. ”
Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Blazey will have the final say on the development of Ormiston College.