Wildlife Warriors come to Blackbutt to give cute koalas a real fighting chance
News source: South Burnett Times
4 June 2007
By Loretta Bryce
AS I drive onto the famous Irwin family"s Blackbutt property on Tuesday, wallabies jump across the dirt driveway in front of me just after I see the signs warning drivers to slow down. This was the place where four gorgeous, fuzzy little koalas would be released as part of an Australian Wildlife Hospital research project.
The release was part of a 12-month koala study by staff of the wildlife hospital, which is a major project of Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, sponsored by Australia Zoo.
The project was coordinated by the wildlife hospital"s senior veterinarian Jon Hanger and University of Queensland Honours student Kiersten Jones.
Before being released the koalas were given a full health check and fitted with microchips and tracking collars so their movements could be monitored.
It was clear that these people loved the koalas – they treated the animals with the same sort of care and attention that I would give one of my own children.
About a dozen people attended the property for the release, including vets, volunteers, property manager Bob Irwin and Zarraffa"s Coffee CEO Kenton Campbell, who had donated thousands of dollars towards the
Dr Hanger said the project aimed to find out why male koalas had a lower post-release survival rate than female koalas.
"Little post-release monitoring has been carried out and reported to determine the success of reintroduction, in terms of survival and dispersal.
"This project is particularly significant because new data will be collected on the reintroduction of hand-raised koalas into a larger and protected habitat.
"We are hoping to discover the influencing factors affecting the survival and success of koalas following release back into the wild.
"At this stage, from previous studies, we can only identify that the greater distance of dispersal of male koalas is a contributing factor and they are at greater risk than young female koalas," he said.
As the young koalas were set free to scamper up the trees, the joy was evident for the animals and the people.
Caboolture Koala Care and Rescue Unit co-founder Anika Lehmann said it was moments like these that made up for the animals that they had to scrape off the roads.
"This is priceless, this is what you do it all for," she said.
The koalas will be monitored daily for three weeks following their release, and will then be tracked three times a week until the radio collars are removed.
Australian Wildlife Hospital staff will conduct a koala survey during the first week of release to determine the koala population on the property.
The 3450 acre property, "Ironbark Station," is a designated wildlife sanctuary and has extensive facilities for the rehabilitation and release of native wildlife.
Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors Worldwide communications manager Carolyn Beaton said the release site was ideal for the research project.
"Ironbark Station is a relatively large and protected habitat, thus it is a suitable site to investigate the dynamics of hand-raised koala dispersal post reintroduction because of the property size and type, the adjacent habitat, the existing koala population, and the constant improvements being made to the natural environment," she said.
The Australian Wildlife Hospital treats hundreds of koalas each year, many harmed by car accidents, dog attacks, habitat destruction bushfires and disease.
Hospital manager Gail Gipp said if people don"t wake up to themselves the koala could become extinct.
She said there were simple things that every person can do to help preserve the species.
"People can lobby the government and local councils to protect habitats, they can put their dogs away at night.
"Also putting a rope in your swimming pool so koalas can get out, a lot of koalas drown in pools because they fall in and can"t get out," she said.
With the help of these dedicated wildlife workers, perhaps the koala population in South East Queensland will have a better chance of survival.
