Common Name: Koala
Scientific Name: Phascolarctos cinereus (ash grey pouched bear)
Koalas are the only member of the family Phascolarctidae.
Status: IUCN Red List them as Vulnerable
Current Population Trend: Decreasing
The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are likely to be less than 80,000 Koalas remaining in Australia today and it could be as low as 43,000. Much of their habitat has already been lost. This makes it vitally important to save what is left.
Type: Mammals Subclass: Marsupialia Order: Diprotodontia
Koalas are a type of mammal called marsupials, which give birth to underdeveloped young. They are different from any other marsupial and have been classified into their own family, called Phascolarctidae. They share a number of characteristics with wombats, their closest living relatives, including a backward-facing pouch.
Diet: Koalas primarily eat a variety of eucalypt leaves and occasionally a few other related tree species, including lophostemon, melaleuca and corymbia species (such as brush box, paperbark and bloodwood trees). They consume around 500 grams of leaves each day and obtain most of their water requirements from the leaves, which can contain up to 50% water. They are selective eaters, eating less than 50 of over 700 eucalypt species. Often choosing leaves at the top of the tallest trees that contain more liquid and nutrients. Koalas do drink from various water sources when needed, especially during heatwaves and in times of drought. Eucalypt leaves are very low in energy comprising only 5% sugars and starches on average. Koalas sleep to conserve energy and may sleep for 18 to 22 hours.
Life Span: In the wild 13 to 20 years. In captivity 22 years
Size: 23 to 33.5 inches
Weight: 4 to 15kg or 20 pounds
Habitat: Koalas do not live in rain forests or desert areas. They live in the tall eucalypt forests and low eucalypt woodlands over a range of open forest and woodland communities but ultimately their habitats are defined by the presence of a select group of food trees. They are found in higher densities where food trees are growing on more fertile soils and along watercourses. They remain in areas where their habitat has been partially cleared and in urban areas. A forest can only have a certain number of Koalas living in it, called the forest’s ‘carrying capacity'.
Gestation Period: The gestation period of a female koala is 35 days, after which she gives birth to a single Joey about the size of a large bean. Koalas can have twins but it is rare. Birth usually takes place between the months of November and February. The young stays in the pouch for the next six months before emerging . After this it will spend between six and 12 months riding on its mother's back and return to the pouch to suckle and are fully weaned and independent by 12 months. Females become sexually mature at 2 years, males at 3-4 years.
Social System: Koalas are generally solitary animals and live in well-defined home ranges. Each home range is often controlled by a single alpha male. A number of females also live inside that area. These females will mate almost exclusively with the dominant male, who will defend his territory against outside males that may move into the area. Females generally want to reproduce with the largest male, and rely on male vocalizations to assess the potential mate’s size.
Cause of Decline: Koalas need a lot of space to live about one hundred trees per anmimal, a pressing problem as Australia’s woodlands continue to shrink. Bushfires especially the devsstating 2019 - 2020 season have seen Koalas being identified by the Australian government as one of 113 animals requiring urgent help.Habitat loss is the greatest threat to Koalas.
Habitat loss is the greatest threat to Koalas. The main reasons for this are -
. Land clearing, bush fires and diseases of the eucalypts like ‘dieback' which cause the trees to die.
. As many as 4,000 koalas are killed each year by run-ins with dogs and cars.
. Isolated populations inbreed, making the animals more susceptible to disease, Chlamydia is common in koalas, but more likely to develop into dangerous infections when the animals are vulnerable or stressed.
The koala is one of the world’s most iconic animal species only found in Australia. Their stout, tailless body, large head with round, fluffy ears and large, spoon-shaped nose, are instantly recognizable. They can only be found in the wild on the southeast and eastern sides of Australia, along the coastlines of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. Most of their time is spent sleeping because it requires a lot of energy to digest their toxic, fibrous, low-nutrition diet and sleeping is the best way to conserve energy.
Koalas are arboreal (tree dwelling) marsupials and have a number of adaptations advantageous to tree living. Their bodies are long with muscular front and hind limbs. Large sharp claws help with gripping tree trunks and rough skin on the bottom their feet provide friction for climbing. The koala has five digits on their front paws, two of which are opposable. This allows the koala to grip branches as its moves from tree to tree. Koalas are one of the few mammals apart from primates to have fingerprints which so closely resemble human fingerprints that it can be hard to distinguish between the two. They are uniquely adapted to live in the trees.
Koalas have poor vision and rely heavily on their other senses. They have excellent hearing which helps them detect predators and other koalas. They have an acute sense of smell which also helps them detect other koalas and their favourite food trees. Koalas use a range of sounds to communicate with one another over large distances. There is a deep grunting bellow which the male uses to signify its social and physical position. Males save fighting energy by bellowing their dominance, and they also bellow to allow other animals to accurately locate their position. Females do not bellow as often as males, but their calls are also used to express aggression as well as being part of sexual behaviour, often giving the impression of fighting. Mothers and babies make soft clicking, squeaking sounds and gentle humming or murmuring sounds to one another, as well as gentle grunts to signal displeasure or annoyance. All Koalas share one common call which is elicited by fear. It is a cry like a baby screaming and is made by animals under stress. It is often accompanied by shaking.
Fossil records indicate that many years ago, the koala inhabited parts of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. There are no fossil records of koalas ever living in Tasmania. They probably first evolved on the Australian continent during the period when Australia began to drift slowly northward, gradually separating from the Antarctic land mass some 45 million years ago. Fossil remains of Koala-like animals have been found dating back to 25 million years ago.
Sadly, being iconic and symbolic is not enough to save the koala from the threat of extinction. In the 1920’s, hundreds of thousands of koalas were shot for the fur trade and now koalas are contending with the consequences of ongoing excessive tree-clearing for agricultural and urban development in Queensland and New South Wales.
By 1924 Koalas were extinct in South Australia, severely depleted in New South Wales, and estimates for Victoria were as low as 500 animals.
In 1919 the Queensland Government announced a six month open season on Koalas, and in that period alone, 1 million Koalas were killed. Although the season officially remained closed until 1927, when it was re-opened, over 800,000 were slaughtered in just over 1 month. Public outrage at the slaughter forced governments in all states to declare the Koala a 'Protected Species' by the late 1930's. However, no such laws were brought in to protect the trees upon which Koalas rely for their food and shelter. This remains the case throughout the Koala's range.
Koalas are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which has named the species one of 10 animals most vulnerable to climate change. Increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is decreasing the nutritional quality of eucalyptus leaves (which is already quite low) and causing longer, more intense droughts and wildfires. There is increasing evidence that climate change is leading to significant koala range contractions in western Queensland and New South Wales. This is due to reduced nutrient levels in Eucalyptus leaves, rendering them of lower quality. In response to drought, koalas are forced to stop napping and come down from the trees to find water, spending precious energy and putting them at a higher risk of predation. Koalas have few natural predators but with their trees gone, koalas are spending more time on the ground in search of food and shelter.
During the 2019-2020 bush fire season Koalas lost substantial portions of their habitat . Wildlife hospitals, rescue organizations, zoos, and volunteers have stepped up to care for injured koalas, with the goal of rehabilitating and releasing them back into the wild. Ensuring there’s the right kind of forest for them to return to is a priority. Though there are some koala sanctuaries and reserves, many live on private, unprotected land. Many koala populations are faced with nowhere to go when their forest habitat is destroyed by deforestation. Just in the last two years, tree-clearing has tripled in New South Wales, leaving important koala habitats incredibly fragmented or completely lost.
Australia has already lost more mammal species in the last 200 years than any other country in the world combined. Koalas are declining at the rate of 21% per decade - WWF Australia.
SOME ORGANIZATIONS WORKING FOR THE CONSERVATION OF OUR KOALA AND THEIR HABITAT
The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) is the principal non-profit, non-government organization dedicated to the effective management and conservation of the Koala and its habitat. Main goals are to refine and update the Koala Habitat Atlas mapping of all wild Koala habitat and to get the Koala Protection Act enacted to ensure Koalas and their habitat are protected.
World Wildlife Fund – Australia WWF-Australia is part of the WWF International Network, the world’s leading, independent conservation. WWF –Australia Urgent: Koalas could be extinct in NSW as early as 2050. We can’t let this happen.
Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors There are conservation efforts by the Australia Zoo and others to buy large tracts of land to set aside for koalas.
Koala Hospital – Port Macquarie, NSW 2444 The Koala Hospital established in 1973 is an activity of the Koala Preservation Society Australia Incorporated (not-for-profit) and recognized world-wide as a peak body which participates in forums for debate on significant policy issues and plays a significant leadership role in research, providing advice and information to Universities and Governments regulating change.
Australia wildfire Emergency Appeal The allocation of donations received by AWF will be used to assist as many animals as possible across the nation. They allocate funding to support urgent needs of wildlife organizations by partnering with local wildlife response organizations, communities, scientists, doctors and ground volunteers – to all states and territories where needed to assist animals affected by bushfire crisis.
Wildcare Australia is a non-profit organization situated in South-east Queensland Aims: rescue and care for sick, injured, orphaned and displaced native wildlife with the intention of returning them to the wild.
Friends of the Koala Is committed to conserving koalas and preserving and enhancing their habitat, particularly in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. In doing this they aim to make a key contribution to Australia’s biodiversity.