Koala recovery still a long way off in NSW

A NEW baseline estimate has put the number of koalas in New South Wales at about 274,000, following expanded survey efforts by the NSW Government.

World Wide Fund for Nature Australia said the figure reflected improved monitoring rather than population growth and warned major threats to koalas remained.

“We welcome the NSW government’s considerable investment to find and count koala populations. This is important information to have,” WWF Australia senior manager of koala recovery Tanya Pritchard said.

“However, it does not mean koala populations are increasing.”

Pritchard said new technologies, including thermal drone scanning, were helping researchers locate existing koalas more effectively.

“But make no mistake, koalas have suffered a massive decline,” she said.

A study released last year found 29 million hectares, or 54 per cent, of forests and woodlands that once existed in NSW have been destroyed since European colonisation.

Habitat loss continues to place koalas at risk, with animals killed on roads, attacked by dogs, or exposed to infrastructure.

Disease also remains a major threat, with chlamydia widespread among koala populations and capable of causing infertility, blindness and death.

Pritchard said the NSW Government’s announcement of the Great Koala National Park was an important step in protecting remaining habitat.

“This will be a crucial safe haven where koalas are protected in perpetuity,” she said.

In northern NSW, Bangalow Koalas has planted about 500,000 trees to restore habitat and improve connectivity, with WWF funding about half of the plantings.

“Efforts to restore koala habitat on a large scale will be crucial to WWF’s aim of doubling koala numbers by 2050,” Pritchard said.