Gunnedah, which is marketed as the Koala Capital of the World, has been the recent focus of researchers who believe the local population is seriously threatened.

Gunnedah mayor Owen Hasler said today council had been getting the “clear message” there was a need for a koala hospital.

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He said some sick koalas from the region were being sent to Dubbo and other places.

“Quite clearly, we are branding ourselves as the koala capital,” Cr Hasler said.

“Figures suggest we have koalas in appreciable numbers.

“A centre certainly could justify a study. Certainly there appears to be a strong case for it.”

Gunnedah is already well-known for the work of Nancy Small, who established Waterways Wildlife Park and cares for koalas and other native wildlife who are sick or injured.

Mrs Small said she believed a state-of-the-art koala centre could work if there was access to the latest treatments for koalas, and the centre was run with very strict attention to the welfare of koalas.

She said she had yet to be convinced chlamydia has taken hold of the local koala population and was concerned about koalas possibly being euthanised unnecessarily.

Environmental consultant John Lemon, who has worked closely with the area’s koalas, said it was time strong action was taken to help save Gunnedah’s koalas.

“For many years, the Gunnedah area has been known as ‘The Koala Capital of the World’,” Mr Lemon said.

“Our koalas are in a lot of trouble and need more assistance than most people realise.

“Now is the time to get started.”

Mr Lemon said while he had purchased a property at Emerald Hill in 1981, he did not see a koala there until 1985.

“In 1988, I was employed as research centre manager at the Soil Conservation Service on the then-Curlewis Road,” he said.

“There were numerous koalas on the centre and those numbers increased significantly through the 1990s and early 2000s.”

He said in 2008, the Department of Environment and Climate Change started a three-year study into koalas on the Liverpool Plains. The study coincided with severe drought and two heatwaves in November and December 2009.

He said researcher put the koala death rate “conservatively” at about 25 per cent.

Mr Lemon said this had been followed by drought and record temperatures, including a record maximum of 47.9 degrees on January 3, 2014 when many landholders found koalas dead on their properties.

“The current El Nino of 2015-16 is having a significant impact on the koala population on the Liverpool Plains,” he said.

“Numerous koalas have needed to be euthanised due to disease and emaciation.

“A very high proportion of the current koala population is impacted by chlamydia. Current research is under way to put an accurate estimate on this concerning and ongoing situation.

“I would estimate that the koala population on the Liverpool Plains has decreased by 60-70 per cent since 2008. That estimate is based on two decades of on-ground observations.”

Mr Lemon said the time was right for a feasibility study into a centre that could include a koala research centre, hospital, education centre and tourism centre.

Ecologist Phil Spark, who is working on a Koala Action Plan for NSW Local Land Services North West said last month Gunnedah could be facing a koala crisis.

Mr Spark said he was working on a plan to identify population numbers where possible, and focus on the healthy population areas.

He said it might be necessary to construct an area where healthy koalas could be bred in a captive disease-free environment with temperature control, good shade and access to water.

What do you think? Could Gunnedah become the capital for koala conservation with a koala centre? Send your views and ideas to marie.low@fairfaxmedia.com.au