Koala - Conservation Status

Conservation Status

The Australian government currently lists the koala as a priority species for conservation status assessment. Government estimates of the national koala population numbers in the hundreds of thousands, although other studies have estimated as few as 80,000 koalas left in the wild. The Australian Koala Foundation in 2008 estimated there are around 100,000 koalas left in the wild.

As with most native Australian animals, the koala cannot legally be kept as a pet in Australia or anywhere else. The only people who are permitted to keep koalas are wildlife carers and, occasionally, research scientists. These individuals are issued with special permits to care for koalas, but have to return them to the wild when they are either well enough or, in the case of joeys, old enough.

The IUCN lists the species as "Least Concern".

In April 2012, it was announced that koalas in NSW, Queensland and the ACT will be classified as vulnerable under a protected listing by Federal Environment Minister of the Australian government Tony Burke. There has been a further heavy decline in the koala population in the wild during 2012. This is due to ongoing large-scale destruction of bushland for housing and other urban developments, with resultant loss of koala habitat, increased dog attacks and increased traffic, as well as disease and climate change. This is causing a huge number of koala deaths in the wild, leading to koalas being listed, by the Australian Federal Government, as a threatened species. In August, 2012, the koala has also been described as an endangered species.

The US government has declared the koala a threatened species.

The koala inhabits four Australian states. Under state legislation, the species is listed as:

• Queensland – Listed as "vulnerable".
• New South Wales – Listed as "vulnerable".
• Australian Capital Territory – Listed as "vulnerable".
• South Australia – classified as rare (although the population on Kangaroo Island is thriving).
• Victoria – The koala population in Victoria was considered large and thriving, according to an article which was last reviewed on 29 October 2007. Unfortunately, the gene pool is very limited, which means that Victorian koalas are also at risk with environmental change.

The koala was hunted almost to extinction in the early 20th century, largely for its fur. Millions of furs were traded to Europe and the United States, and the population has not fully recovered from such decimations. Extensive cullings occurred in Queensland in 1915, 1917, and again in 1919 when over one million koalas were killed with guns, poisons, and nooses. The public outcry over the cullings was most likely the first wide-scale environmental issue that rallied Australians. Despite the growing movement to protect native species, the poverty brought about by the drought of 1926–28 led to another 600,000 koalas being killed during a one-month open season in August 1927.

Today, habitat loss and the impacts of urbanisation (such as dog attacks and traffic accidents) are the leading threats to the survival of the koala. In recent years, some colonies have been hard hit by disease, especially chlamydia. 2011 surveys in Queensland show that chlamydia has caused symptoms in at least 50 percent of the koala population. Chlamydia of koalas is not the same as the human form, but can cause blindness, respiratory infections to all koalas and infertility of female koalas. Moreover nearly all of the koalas in Queensland are infected with koala retrovirus which suppresses the koala's immune system and interferes with its ability to fight off chlamydia. The koala requires large areas of healthy, connected forest and will travel long distances along tree corridors in search of new territory and mates. The increasing human population of the coastal parts of the continent continues to cut these corridors through agricultural and residential development, forestry, and road-building, thereby marooning koala colonies in decreasing areas of bush. The long-term viability of the koala is therefore threatened by genetic weakness. The Australian Koala Foundation is the principal organisation dedicated to the conservation of the koala and its habitat, mapping 40,000 km2 (15,000 sq mi) of land for koala habitat and claiming strong evidence that wild koala populations are in serious decline throughout the species' natural range. Local councils in growing urban areas with koala populations that have established or are in the process of establishing planning overlays and controls to preserve habitat for koalas include the Victorian councils of City of Ballarat, Macedon Ranges Shire and Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority as well as the Queensland councils of Moreton Bay Regional Council and Redland Shire Council.

Although the species covers a large area, only portions of koala habitat remain. Many habitats are lost to weeds, clearance for agriculture, or carved up by developers. Other threats come from logging, poor management, attacks from feral and domestic animals, diseases, and roads.