Koala  (Phascolarctos cinereus)

Koala numbers reached a low point in the 1930s, due mainly to the fur trade, when many local populations, including that in South Australia, became extinct, although they have since been re-introduced to South Australia. Other factors in their decline included land clearing, disease, fire and drought. Whilst the koala population as a whole has recovered somewhat since then, its current conservation status varies across its range (3). Major threats now include land clearing and urbanisation resulting in lost, fragmented and low quality habitats. Koalas are confined by their diet to a specialised habitat of which around 80% has been destroyed since Europeans settled in Australia. They are also threatened by fires, droughts, disease (particularly due to the Chlamydia bacterium), death by road traffic and predation by dog. Recently there has been a lot of attention in the media suggesting that koalas in some isolated patches of habitat have been the cause of defoliation of eucalyptus trees, resulting in calls for a cull of the koalas in these areas. That the koalas are to blame is a contentious issue amongst scientists and authorities and there is evidence to suggest that several other factors may be the cause (4).

Although koalas are a protected species, their numbers have markedly decreased due to habitat loss, and many populations are now living in isolated patches of habitat, putting them at greater risk of localised extinctions. Remaining koala habitat is mostly on privately-owned land so landowners have a responsibility to conserve them. As an important step in its aim to achieve national species-specific legislation that would effectively protect koala habitat over all of the koala’s range, in July 2004 the Australian Koala Foundation submitted a nomination to the Australian Government, supported by a large amount of scientific data, to list the koala as Vulnerable nationally as a matter of urgency. To date this has not been achieved. Without legislation that encourages landowners, through incentives, to protect habitat on their land, there are fears koala numbers will decline to such an extent that populations will be incapable of ever recovering (4).

Legislation, along with continued research and monitoring, will be necessary to prevent this Australian icon from further declining as a result of competing land use pressures (4).