Are we still the koala capital?

According to the Australian Koala Foundation, Gunnedah has already lost the right to make the claim.

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Koala foundation chief executive officer Deborah Tabart – also known as “The Koala Woman” – says on the foundation’s website the Gunnedah koala population is estimated at 2900-3300. 

“This electorate is now on the cusp of becoming the Coal Capital of the world and Gunnedah may have to relinquish its title of Koala Capital of the world if that comes to pass,” Ms Tabart said.

“I am particularly concerned about the future of this electorate because it is a major food bowl of our country and the conflicts between these two worlds loom large.”

But Ms Tabart, who said she has visited Gunnedah many times, went further in an interview with the Namoi Valley Independent.

“I think you can no longer call yourselves the Koala Capital of the World, because you are not showing enough care with the habitat,” she said.

Ms Tabart said Gunnedah Shire Council had done little to ensure the koala’s future and had not accepted the maps and research of the foundation when it was offered some time ago.

Environmental consultant John Lemon, who is well-known for his work with koalas in Gunnedah, said he believed the koala population had plummeted at least 60 per cent since 2007.

“Gunnedah’s claim to being the koala capital of the world may be challenged by other centres in the not-too-distant future as the population declines,” Mr Lemon said.

Mr Lemon, who was involved in a project between 2008 and 2011 with Dr Dan Lunney to track more than 50 koalas for three years, believes the koalas are moving to a cooler climate.

“From about November-December 2009, we saw the end of a prolonged drought and consecutive heatwaves,” he said.

“During that period, we estimate we lost about 25 per cent of the koala population – and that is a conservative estimate.”

Following that, about 80 per cent of the Warrambungles koala population was believed to have been decimated by the 2013 bushfire.

He said the tale of woe for the koala has continued with a record 46.9 degree day on January 3 this year.

“What we have got is the perfect environmental catastrophe,” Mr Lemon said.

He said climate extremes, the increasing frequency of drought, the length of time between decent rainfall and the toxic effect of rising temperatures on eucalyptus leaves were all working against the survival of the koala.

“Koalas are the Australian ‘panda’ – they are too specialised for their own good,” Mr Lemon said.

“They eat more leaves to gain more moisture and nutrients, and it is more toxic, and it starts to build up.

“Their immune system is compromised and it leaves them more susceptible to the chlamydia that is endemic to their population.”

He said he had gone from seeing eight-12 koalas a week, to 14 weeks without a sighting. Close to half of those he had seen this year appeared to have chlamydia symptoms.

Mr Lemon said he believed climate change brought the koalas to Gunnedah from the Pilliga region in the 1980s, and was now pushing them further towards Armidale.

He said there had been sightings in Armidale where koalas had not been spotted for many years.

Worst of all, Mr Lemon said, was that the koala was like the “canary in the coal mine”.

“Birds are heading east as well,” he said. “The koalas are an indicator of pretty dramatic change.”

Liverpool Plains Land Management executive officer David Walker said while it was not correct to say nothing had been done to protect the koala in Gunnedah, the population was “struggling”.

Mr Walker said he didn’t believe Gunnedah had yet lost its title as “Koala Capital”.

“We’ve lost the sheen, but I don’t know who else would pick the title up,” he said. “I don’t know where they are doing well.

“We were one of the few areas that had an increasing population until a few years ago.”

Mr Walker said if the heatwaves of the past couple of years continued, the population would continue to decline.

He said work had been carried out to improve food corridors, and more work could be done to link food trees and woodland areas, with water stations provided for over-heated koalas.

Mr Walker also criticised council inaction.

“I think the council have been sitting on their hands to a degree,” he said. “Some of the approvals that have been going through have paid lip service to the koala population.”

 He said the council’s Draft Koala Plan of Management was “mostly incorrect” and “very superficial”.

“If they are serious about being the Koala Capital of the World, then they need a real Koala Plan of Management,” Mr Walker said.

Gunnedah Shire Councils director of planning, development and environmental services Michael Silver said the draft koala plan, which has been on the drawing board since 2011, had been deferred by council in August.

The revised plan was further discussed by councillors on November 5.

“As a result of the feedback from councillors at the workshop, some further adjustments will be made to the draft document with the intention of the amended KPoM [Koala Plan of Management] being formally considered by council for endorsement for public exhibition early in 2015,” Mr Silver said.

Waterways Wildlife Park’s Nancy Small said she believed Gunnedah still had a lot to be positive about on the koala front.

“My thinking is we did lose a lot of koala, but the ones that are left are really healthy,” Mrs Small said.

“To me, we still have the healthiest koalas in Australia.

“I’ve honestly only ever seen one with chlamydia. People say it is here, but I have not seen it.”

Mrs Small said more koalas were likely to be seen in town as they risked traffic and dogs to seek out cooler, greener areas in the heat.