Cuddly, soft koala

Press, 4 August 1981, Page 14

Cuddly, soft koala

Everyone likes koalas. They are cuddly and soft to hold” and do not hurt anyone, unless they are. treated cruelly. Twenty years ago the residents of a place called Tucki Tucki, in Australia, noticed the eucalyptus trees in their area were being overgrazed, which meant that the koalas were ■ probably hungry, so they asked that reservations of land ■- be set aside for koalas and they planted tallow wood and more gum trees to save the koalas. Today, three times a year, a koala count is conducted. This means that rangers have to climb, trees and

catch each koala and record its age, sex and health. Another area in Australia looks after its koalas too. About 100 local people have helped count koalas at Port Macquarie. In 1974 they found 98. in 1976, 62. and in 1980. 121. These people were so worried that the koalas were disappearing that they purchased a pocket of hative forest and built a koala hospital. ' In 1979-80 they treated 68 koalas. The main problems were poor health, from a poor diet, plus drownings in swimming pools, poisoning from garden sprays and

broken limbs from dog attacks or cars. Most people are careful not to injure these lovely animals and road signs often warn motorists of koala crossings. The signs say “Slow Down! Koalas cross here at night.” But their main enemy is still man as acres of eucalyptus are felled by developers each year. It really is urgent that more trees are planted, especially as the koalas can only eat some species of eucalyptus, or the cuddly koala could die out.