Koala numbers dive on east coast

Updated

In its advice to the Federal Minister on whether to list the koala, the Threatened Species Scientific Committee spelt out the rate of the koala's decline.

It is estimated that in the 20-year period between 1990 and 2010 the number of koalas in New South Wales had dropped by a third, and in Queensland the numbers were down by as much as 43 per cent.

While in parts of Victoria and South Australia some areas had so many koalas that steps had to be taken to control their numbers, the committee found that the populations overall were still in decline.

It concluded that across Victoria koala numbers had dropped between 5 and 15 per cent, and in South Australia by 39 per cent.

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Environment Minister Tony Burke on the koala as a threatened species (ABC News)

The regional picture is even starker. After intensive study, the Queensland Environment Department in 2010 produced the Koala Coast Koala Population Report.

It found that in 1999 there were 6,000 koalas in the area. By 2010, that had dropped down to 2000 - more than a 68 per cent loss in just over a decade.

In Queensland's Mulga Lands bioregion, near the NSW border, koala numbers crashed. The Threatened Species Scientific Committee reported that there, the koala population dropped 80 per cent between 1995 and 2009.

The destruction of koala habitat for urban development and the resulting impacts of dog attacks and vehicle strikes are the key reasons for the decline. Disease rates have also been rising, possibly caused by the loss of habitat. Land clearing for agriculture (now halted) and for huge mining projects (still underway) has also had a big impact on koala habitat.

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Koala vet Dr Jon Hanger on threats to health and habitat in Queensland (ABC News)

The Queensland Environment Department data lists the number of koala deaths presented or located by koala hospitals between 1997 and mid-2011 as 15,644. It notes this would be an underestimation of the numbers being killed.

The hospital data (Advice to Minister from Threatened Species Scientific Committee, page 13) shows that in 2010 dogs killed 67 koalas, cars accounted for another 246, disease killed 131, and a combination of factors killed 567 koalas, while 88 deaths were listed simply as "other".

The Fur Trade: A brief history

Koalas began to be hunted for their skins during the second half of the 19th century.

They were shot and in some cases poisoned, and their pelts were then exported to the US, Canada and Europe to make hats, gloves and the inside lining of coats.

Koalas were being hunted in NSW, South Australia and Victoria in numbers that were staggering - in 1902, 600,000 koala skins were purchased in NSW alone.

Historian Ellis Troughton claims that in 1924, more than 2 million koala skins were exported from Australia's eastern states.

But by the early 1900s, koala numbers had dropped so sharply that governments in NSW, Victoria and South Australia all moved to put an end to koala hunting.

Church leaders and wildlife conservationists agitated for the end of koala hunting, but in Queensland, despite widespread public protests, the trade continued - in part because it provided employment for rural workers.

In 1927, public outcry increased dramatically in the lead up to what became known as "Black August". In that month, nearly 600,000 koala pelts were collected.

However, it is estimated that if the number of joeys killed and spoiled skins are also considered, close to 800,000 koalas may actually have died.

It turned out to be the last open hunting season on koalas in Australia. The backlash that followed helped topple the Labor government in elections in May 1929.

Watch Four Corners Koala Crunch Time here.

Further Reading

Koala Coast - Koala Population Report 2010, Qld Dept of Environment. (PDF 1.33Mb)

Advice to the Minister for Environment from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee regarding the listing of the koala under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. (PDF 401Kb)

'Black August', Queensland's Open Season On Koalas in 1927, by Glenn Fowler (1993) (PDF 301Kb)

Koala, Origins of an Icon, by Dr Stephen Jackson (2007), published by Allen and Unwin.

Topics: endangered-and-protected-species, environment, animals, qld, australia

First posted