Claude the koala bypassed plant nursery security to munch the leaves of its baby trees again, highlighting the problems of land clearing for koalas. #koala#environment
Following on from our koala search (bear hunt) yesterday (see link for yesterday's tweets):
Today we went to Kennett River off the Great Ocean River - another hotspot for koala spotting. I am now learning how to spot koalas in areas of over-population. First find out where they are overpopulated, go there and spot a lot of dead trees - like in this photo. #koala
Then look for a gaggle of people looking and pointing at a tree. I was too polite to photograph the gaggles we saw today.
But they knew how to spot koalas. Walk in the areas with dead trees. Nearby you will find a koala like this one in a small tree close to the road. #koala
Then use the zoom on your phone or camera to get a close-up. There is no need to walk up close to get your close-up shot. I don't know much about koalas but most wild animals get stressed by humans getting close to them.
Edit: look closely at this photo. This is a mother with a baby! I am very glad I did not get too close and stress the mother. #koala
In most of Australia, koalas are endangered, but at Cape Otway there are too many of them and they are killing trees because they are eating all the leaves. There is a program in place to move some koalas to different areas. #koala
When we were on a walk out the back of Halls Gap when I was 8, my father spotted a koala in the bush. For the rest of the walk I tried hard to find one myself but couldn't.
It wasn't until today that I actually found a koala in the wild. I woke up this morning and said to my husband that today I was going to find a koala in the wild. We went on lots of walks but it wasn't until towards the end of the day when we were walking down Manna Gum Drive at Cape Otway that I found one myself. We also found another one a bit further down the road.
Today's achievement ticked another thing off my life-time bucket list. It was a small thing, but a bucket list thing nevertheless. #koala
Australia's roads are "killing corridors" for biodiversity
Mobility design for extinction records
"Appin Road is known as Australia's 'killing corridor' because of the large number of endangered koalas killed on the stretch. Increased traffic on south-west Sydney's Appin Road has resulted in 32 of the endangered marsupials being killed on the notorious stretch since July 2022 – roughly half of all deaths in the district over the same period. Wildlife advocates have long referred to it as Australia's "killing corridor".
>> https://au.news.yahoo.com/developer-responds-as-aussie-road-upgrade-near-killing-corridor-labelled-pretty-horrific-030233495.html
Australia is a world leader in species extinction and declines
Yet the koala’s feed trees keep falling...
"Since time immemorial, the Gumbaynggirr Nation has cared for country and we know that the Dunggirr is sacred to the First Nations peoples of Bellingen Shire."
"Koalas cannot read signs or distinguish boundaries between native forests, state forest plantations or your backyard."
"Over decades locals and tourists have come to know about the Gleniffer koalas, through registered sightings and expert evidence. Yet the koala’s feed trees keep falling, even though Forestry Corporation of NSW (FC NSW) has no social licence."
"After operating within our Shire for over three decades, FC NSW have deliberately withdrawn any connection with the community and take no responsibility for the cumulative damage that the corporation has inflicted on our community’s waterways, roads and bridges".
"...We need to rethink the age-old argument between plantations versus habitat.This requires courage because we all need to have these conversations regarding the remnants in plantations and the wildlife therein."
Here's an interesting fact from my life: throughout most of it, there's always been a small Koala in a vehicle operated by my parents, particularly my Mother. The Koala usually hung on the post above the rear view mirror, looking into the interior. However, it currently resides on the passenger hanging strap, as it doesn't fit above the mirror these days. It's seen a few kilometers/miles in it's time. #Koala#Australia#RearViewMirror
A dingo was howling and koalas were bellowing this night. When day breaks the yapper dogs come.
Dingoes, companions in life and death: The significance of archaeological canid burial practices in Australia
"Dingoes were usually buried in the same manner as Aboriginal community members and often in areas used for human burial, sometimes alongside people."