KANGAROO ISLAND - WHERE A BUSHFIRE SOLVED THE KOALA PROBLEM

The Australian koala has faced a decline in numbers. However, the Kangaroo Island koalas have, in their short period of presence , experienced a population boom that has caused them to impact some sections of their eucalypt leaf food resource by “over-grazing”. Before 1923 there were no koalas on Kangaroo Island. After their 1923 introduction from French Island Victoria, the 18 introduced koalas escaped from their enclosure on the western end of the island. Over the next 9 decades these escaped koalas spread throughout the island and thrived on the natural food resources. By the 1990’s the impacts of koala numbers became an issue. Areas of eucalypts were being impacted severely. Some landowners began to complain about “pest” koalas. Ecologists recognised areas where koalas were causing an environmental imbalance. At the extreme those looking for solutions favoured a koala kill, Others suggested the round up and removal of excess koalas to the mainland. In the 1920’s the reaction against the koala fur trade resulted in the banning of koala kills. The koala became a protected species. The reduction of koalas by culling was not legal. Find out how the excess of the koala was solved.