As Austen Tayshus said in his comedy single, ‘How much can a koala bear?” the sad truth is, “not much more”. Koalas are in crisis, with the situation now extremely dire. Between 2018 to 2021, the koala population suffered a dramatic 30% drop. That the koala could become extinct is unthinkable, but it’s an all too real possibility.

An Iconic Species At The Crossroads

Found only in Australia, the koala is one of the world’s most iconic species. However, this once-thriving marsupial has been brought to the brink of extinction by disease, culling, habitat loss, climate change and government apathy. In 2012 the government listed the koala as “vulnerable” in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (the ACT). The classification was upgraded to ‘endangered’ in 2021.

Despite the endangered classification, land clearing of the koala habitats in the name of development continue. Bushfires in 2019 – 2020 created the perfect storm for the koala. A 2021 report to the NSW government found that koalas in NSW will be extinct in the wild by 2050 unless there is urgent action. Consequently, the NSW government has upgraded the classification from ‘vulnerable’ to ‘endangered’.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report found that the bushfires of 2019 to 2020 killed an estimated 61,000 koalas across Australia. An alarming 41,000 perished on Kangaroo Island alone. That figure is doubly tragic considering that the koalas of Kangaroo Island are the only disease-free Koalas in Australia.

Did they really kill koalas?

As unfathomable as it is, they did. Koalas, in the late 1800s, were considered fair game. As a result, licensed killing allowed koalas to be hunted for their pelts across Queensland (Qld), New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and South Australia (SA). After a public outcry, NSW, Victoria and SA banned the practice in the early 1900s. However, in Qld, it continued until 1927. By then, Qld had almost driven the koala to extinction.

In 1919 the Qld Government announced a six-month open season on Koalas. In that six-month season, 1 million Koalas were killed. By 1924 Koalas were extinct in South Australia, severely depleted in NSW, and estimates for Victoria were as low as 500 individuals. At this time, the focus of the fur trade moved north to Queensland.

Open Season

In the weeks leading up to August 1927, the Queensland Government collected licence fees from 10,000 hopeful koala hunters. This was in order to to boost rural employment and in response to reports of uncontrollable koala populations. The furs were popular in the coat, glove and hat industries in the United States. This led to restrictions being lifted. The acting Queensland premier of the time, William Forgan Smith, then declared an “open season” on August 1, 1927

ABC News

In August 1927 alone, 600,000 – 800,000 koalas were killed. Koala pelts fetched 56 shillings and 9 pence per dozen. The backlash of the wholesale killing of koalas helped oust the Labor party from office in the next elections in 1927. Almost eight million koalas were killed for their pelts between 1888 and 1927. Due to public outrage, all states declared the koala a ‘protected species by the late 1930s. However, no laws have been enacted to protect the gum trees that the koala relies upon for survival.

2013 Cape Otway Cull

Additionally, in 2013 – 2014 the Victorian Government allowed the secret culling of almost 700 koalas at Cape Otway on the Great Ocean Road. The Koalas were pulled out of trees, assessed and given a lethal injection. Held in secret, no details were released until the Australian Newspaper revealed the news. However, supporters of the cull claimed it was necessary and done humanely, as many koalas were starving to death due to lack of food.

“It got to the point where there were no leaves left on the trees they were literally falling out of trees due to starvation.”

Dr Desley Whisson, a koala expert from Deakin University, told 3AW Radio

Kangaroo Island Koalas

The koala was introduced to Kangaroo Island (KI) in 1920 as part of a plan to stop the species from becoming extinct on the mainland. Instead, they flourished on KI, and the population grew to 27,000. However, it wasn’t long before the Natural Resources Committee (NRC) in SA saw a problem and, in 2019, called for a cull. The committee also advocated a cull of corellas, fur seals and other native animals before reaching “unmanageable levels”.

The NRC recommended the government declare certain species overabundant and consider giving local councils the power to cull the native animals. A community backlash, however, saw the idea dumped. Fast forward twelve short months, and the Kangaroo Island bushfires decimated the koala population. With a loss of approximately 41,000 koalas on KI due to the fires, had the cull gone ahead the year before, it begs the question – would KI have any koalas left?

“Koalas have gone from no-listing to vulnerable to endangered within a decade. That is a shockingly fast decline,”

Conservation scientst Stuart Blanch WWF Australia

Threats to Koalas

The main threat to the koala is loss of habit due to tree clearing and climate change. Tree clearing and destruction of bushland continue to escalate. NSW repealed tree clearing controls in 2017, tripling the clearing in one area of northwest NSW and doubling the area cleared around Narrabri, Dubbo and the Hunter Valley.

Habitat destruction causes mass suffering, injury and death to native wildlife to the point it must be considered cruel. However, because it is largely invisable and occurs far from the public gaze, public recognition of the wild animal welfare crisis is low

Animal Welfare Impacts

Tree clearing impact

Native animals are not cleared from areas about to be felled. Animals living in the trees when they are bulldozed are often killed outright. Those who survive suffer terrible injuries, either from falling to the ground or being crushed by trees. Habitat fragmentation forces koalas to spend more time on the ground moving from tree to tree. This puts them at greater risk of being hit by cars and attacked by dogs.

Meanwhile, elevated stress levels make them prone to sickness and diseases like chlamydia. There is also increasing evidence that climate change reduces nutrient levels in Eucalyptus leaves. The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) is dedicated to effectively managing and conserving the koala and its habitat. They plant trees on farms and private land creating new habitats for koalas.

The current koala population of Australia today has fallen to an estimated 32,000 – 58,000, a mere 1% of what was killed in Qld, August 1927. So, the AKF is mounting a Save the Koala campaign calling NSW politicians to act. CLICK HERE to join the ‘koala army’ or support the Koala Protection Act.