“I started thinking that maybe there was another animal that could find these scats by relying on their nose.” Koala poo is very smelly, but it doesn’t smell like poo – it smells like eucalyptus. Using your eyes, they are quite hard to spot, but for dogs the smell would be like a rose in […]
The koala is being considered for official listing as endangered after the summer’s bushfire disaster and ongoing habitat destruction on the east coast forced the government to reconsider its threat status. The iconic species, which is currently listed as vulnerable under national environment laws, is among 28 animals that could have their threat status upgraded, […]
Australia was having an extinction crisis before the fires hit. There were 511 animal species, 1,356 plant species and 82 distinct ecological communities nationally threatened. But the fires were devastating and record breaking. One-third of koalas (an already endangered species) were killed and scientists estimate that over one billion animals died. And now there are […]
Dozens of koalas have been found dead or injured at a timber plantation in the Australian state of Victoria, sparking an investigation by officials. Blue gum trees – an important koala habitat – were harvested from the plantation in December, leaving only a few isolated stands of trees. Some koalas had starved to death in […]
Koalas are severely affected by deforestation in Australia. It’s been putting the species’ population at risk of extinction, and then the bushfires this year have only compounded the threats that koalas face. A new proposal, for a refuge however, could help save koalas from extinction and allow the species to recover. Queensland Environment Minister Leeanne […]
As bush fires in Australia continue to ravage the country, one woman’s heroic act saved a koala. Toni Doherty found a koala wandering on the road, picked him up and brought him to a local animal hospital. The koala, dubbed Ellenborough Lewis, had severe burns on his hands, feet, arms and legs. Port Macquarie Koala […]
Animals including koalas and kangaroos could be culled in parts of South Australia, where high population numbers are damaging the landscape. A report from a parliamentary inquiry has recommended the state’s environment minister make an immediate decision to declare koalas, western grey kangaroos, long-nosed fur seals and little corellas overabundant in some areas. Culling is […]
A colony of flying foxes has been nearly wiped out by extreme heat in Campbelltown in south-west Sydney, according to environmentalists. The Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown campaign posted a series of images to Facebook showing the corpses of the animals lying in the ground, apparently after they had died from dehydration […]