By Margaret Maccoll
As their habitat diminishes koalas are residing more often on privately-owned properties and needing to meet the challenges that come with human habitation.
Car hits, dog attacks, disease and tackling fences are major obstacles to koalas’ survival – but the Koala Action Group is teaching people how to assist them.
Group co-ordinator Michelle Daly is inviting Imbil and Mary Valley to come and share their knowledge and experiences of local koala populations at a meeting at Imbil RSL Hall, in Main Street, on Sunday 18 June, from 9.30am.
“Most koalas live in habitat that is found on private land, so our actions are a key to their future. The more we learn and understand the complex world of wild koalas, how they live and breed and how they use the landscape, the better we can help them,” she said.
The meeting will feature presentations from Wildcare, Wildlife Rescue and the Sunshine Coast University’s Detection Dogs for Conservation research team.
Michelle said guests could learn about threats to koalas, how to determine if a koala is sick or injured and who to call for help, as well as how koalas live and breed and how they use the landscape. Even collecting koala scats (poo) can help researchers understand koala health and distribution of the species, she said.
The Imbil meeting follows on from the Koala Action Group’s first regional meeting in Widgee, which attracted around 30 local residents who have now formed their own local koala group and are working together to protect koalas and their habitat in the Widgee region.
For more information visit the Gympie’s Koala Action Group Facebook page, call Michelle on 0437 549 252 or email to koalas@mrccc.org.au
