Problems Koalas Face

Chlamydia can manifest in different ways. A sign of sickness can be conjunctivitis in the eyes. Starting as red puffiness, there could be a crusty-caked discharge in the eye and, worst-case scenario, blindness. As with cystitis, the sooner they receive treatment, the better the outcome. Since chlamydia is transmittable, we need to remove them from the location until they are treated and recovered. A koala may not show signs of having an eye issue until they are checked with binoculars or a zoom camera lens. Being arboreal (living in trees), and often high up in the trees, the problem is not always visible to the naked eye. This koala has a gunky eye but its not obvious.

Because koalas have a finely tuned sense of smell (as good as, if not better, than a dog), a lack of sight is not a big hurdle to finding a feed tree as they sniff out the best leaves. That said, we don’t want a blind koala bumping into things on the ground, especially if it is indicating they are a carrier of chlamydia. We disinfect our cages, poles, nets and equipment after any rescue to ensure we are not transmitting any disease or bacteria unintentionally.

A koala has large claws specifically for climbing trees. A koala is arboreal, meaning it lives in trees. A koala does not sleep on the ground. Their natural instinct in any danger is to climb. That is why a lot of koalas died in the bushfires. Instead of running from the flames, they climbed higher in their tree and were trapped.

Therefore, you should not see a koala hunched on the ground at the base of a tree. The likelihood is they were too sick or injured to climb. Any koala in this situation needs urgent help. Don’t attempt to pick it up or try and chase it up the tree. Stand back and call your rescue hotline immediately.

Ph 0401 350 799

Unfortunately, due to habitat clearing and all the developments going on, trees are getting scarcer. Even in our parks the trees are few and far between with lots of nice mown grass, rather than closely planted trees. This means koala spend more time on the ground to go from one tree to another than they would like. They also have to pass through suburban back yards to get between fragmented parks.

Despite signage asking people to keep their dogs on a lead, many allow their dogs to exercise by letting them run loose. No matter how obedient you think your dog is, the site of a koala running along the ground between trees is going to result in a bad outcome for the koala.

If your yard has a dog, make sure there are escape routes for a koala to get over any fencing. They might have been able to climb in on the other side of the fence using the fenceposts, but can they climb out? The Gold Coast have implemented specific fencing requirements on properties to ensure they are koala friendly.

A koala may appear fine once a dog has “mouthed” it, but please don’t be scared to contact us, we won’t judge, you need to seek immediate help for the koala. It’s important the koala is caught and sent to a wildlife hospital for observation. A koala doesn’t have a strong rib cage like us. Even we have to be careful not to grab a koala around the body because pressure compresses their internal organs. A dog applying pressure or shaking the koala could have caused damage or internal bleeding that is impossible to see without scans. The koala also becomes very susceptible to the bacteria in a dog’s mouth. A slow painful death can result from these interactions.
The adrenalin may have sent a koala straight up the nearest tree but they still need to go in for assessment. Call our rescue phone 0401 350 799 so we can attempt a catch. If possible, pinpoint the tree or stay there till we arrive to help us locate it.

If a dog is loose in your yard and you notice a koala is present, the law requires you to restrain the dog or remove it from the area (e.g put it in the house), to give the koala a chance to safely move on.

Hit By Car (or HBC), is unfortunately occurring more and more. As the speed on our roads increases and the amount of traffic increases, the koala is dodging a bullet every time it crosses a road. The clearing of habitat means the koala is wandering around looking for their feed trees that have disappeared (Todds Rd, Youngs Crossing Rd, to name a few). Roads are widened to ease congestion, meaning it’s not just 2 lanes but 4 they need to cross. Being territorial, when a younger male is dispersed by his mother, he needs to find his own territory. The young one will be wandering around trying to avoid conflict with a larger, older male but struggling to find suitable habitat.

People comment after a strike that they didn’t realise the signage was for real. Many believe the signs are just a council ploy and that “koalas don’t actually exist in my area, haven’t seen one for years.” Unfortunately, the flashing lights, road paintings and signage have little effect on today’s drivers.

If you inadvertently hit a koala, please call it in. If possible, stop and keep the koala in view, to assist us in finding it and rescuing it. Adrenalin will most likely cause the koala to climb the nearest tree. We’ve known a koala with dislocated hips to climb a tree with her front claws. If you witness a koala hit by another car who doesn’t stop, please call it in. Any koala HBC needs to go in for assessment to a wildlife hospital.

Habitat loss is a contentious issue. The Federal government, states and councils are all pushing for more housing. Instead of building up, we’re building out. This results in more land clearing, more habitat loss and more fragmented corridors for the koalas to navigate. A back rider is learning what trees mum eats from, what direction she travels and where her home range is. Then we come along and change everything.  We widened a road, we built a shopping centre, we put in a new subdivision. The trees they grew up feeding on suddenly disappear with the stroke of a chainsaw.

This is why we see our habitat weeding and planting days being so important. Planting more trees to replace those lost helps the new generation of koalas, but not the adults of today. A tree planted now doesn’t actually become useful for feed until 8-10 years down the track. They aren’t likely to live long enough to see those trees mature. This makes developers offset, (where they can compensate for environmental impact in exchange for money), a delayed process in terms of what does the koala do while waiting for the new trees?

A retrovirus is one that can insert a copy of its genetic material in the DNA of the host cell that it infects, thereby altering what’s known as the host genome. It is unlike chlamydia, which is a bacterial infection.

As with chlamydia, Koala Retrovirus (KoRV) can also occur via transmission from mother to joey before, during and after birth. The bodily fluid containing the virus can also be transmitted to other koalas during mating, fighting or using the same tree if the fluids are still fresh. KoRV affects the koala’s immune system, similar to what humans call AIDS, Koala Immune Deficiency Syndrome (KIDS) making them susceptible to other infections and diseases, which means something like chlamydia becomes more severe.

Infertility, blindness, urinary tract infections and a high incidence of cancers like lymphoma and leukaemia are likely with KIDS. Treatment is difficult due to the nature of the virus becoming part of their genetic makeup. Interestingly, Kangaroo Island koalas show no signs of this virus in their DNA. It is more prevalent in screening carried out in QLD and NSW than it is in VIC and SA which begs the question, “Is it moving south?”

We disinfect our cages, poles, nets and equipment after any rescue to ensure we are not transmitting the virus unintentionally.