One of the reasons for moving to Cedar Creek in 2005 was to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of living in the Australian Bush. We also wanted the opportunity of living with the wildlife of the region. We were aware of Koalas on our property at the time; and were lucky enough to see them as well as hear them.
This picture was taken in 2007 which is the last time we actually saw one on our property.
Koalas are in serious decline suffering from the effects of habitat destruction, domestic dog attacks, and bush fires and road accidents.
The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are less than 80,000 koalas left in the wild, possibly as few as 43,000.
Each Koala’s ‘home’ is made up of several trees and they visit these same trees regularly. The area covered by these trees is their home range, and each koala has its own home range, which overlaps those of other koalas but except for breeding purposes, they do normally not visit another koala’s home trees.
We know that to make a difference we all have to do our part; Peter and I have ensured that we have kept as much native vegetation as possible on our land and have been diligently removing the introduced exotic trees and plants that were here.
We are also planting native vegetation in those areas that have been cleared because as well as being homes for koalas; they are food, shelter and nesting sites for many other native animals and birds. The hollows in older trees are very important to many animals and birds and they may take hundreds of years to develop.
We have two lovely pet cattle dogs Lulu and Gemma and although we are sure they would never attack a Koala we tie them up at night to ensure their safety and that of the wildlife.
The Koala foundation recommends that everyone should keep your dog or cat in a koala-proof fenced enclosure or inside a garage or dwelling overnight (from dusk until dawn). This is when koalas are most active and something as simple as this could make such a difference.
I hope that everyone gets behind the campaign to Save the Koala and ensures that our governments do everything they can from stopping another of our native animals becoming extinct.
