Help save local koalas

PEOPLE concerned about the plight of koalas in the region are invited to attend a Save the Koala Day fundraising luncheon at Crystalbrook Byron later this month.

Former Australian Conservation Foundation president Geoff Cousins OAM will speak at the event, which is especially poignant after a koala was hit by a car and killed outside the resort last week.

Silva Everaers, who is president of the Lismore-based Friends of the Koala charity, said volunteer wildlife carers who had tried to alert drivers to Moji’s presence by erecting handmade and variable message signs beside the road were heartbroken.

“It’s important to be careful when driving at dusk and dawn and at night because they can be hard to see and it’s hard to avoid them if you see them too late,” Ms Evaraers said.

During the breeding season, which runs from June to December, koalas are more active as they search for mates.

Friends of the Koala treated 410 koalas at Northern Rivers Koala Hospital last financial year – 26 per cent more than the previous year.

They include Athena and her joey Thor, who were rescued from a wire fence in Goonellabah and both found to have chlamydia-related cystitis, which causes conjunctivitis.

Chlamydia is responsible for 55 per cent of koala deaths in the region, with 22 per cent of deaths caused by other diseases, 11 per cent by car hits, 6 per cent by dog attacks and 6 per cent from other injuries.

The hospital is the only one in the state licensed to vaccinate koalas against chlamydia as part of a NSW Government-funded project that will see 100 koalas vaccinated each year for three years.

“We’re really struggling for funds at the moment with the cost-of-living crisis leading to a decline in donations, which is making it hard to do the work we do,” Ms Everaers said.

“We need to pay for medicine and veterinary staff and many other things.”

For more information, visit friendsofthekoala.org