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Saving the Koala
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Saving the Koala
Historical Record of Survival for Australian Marsupial
Apr 22, 2009 © Harry P. Schlanger
"The Wildlife Preservation Society wrote to the American President about the sad story of the slaughter of the
koalas, would he take action? The President did!"
A previous article introduced the
koala as a unique animal
to Australia. There is no question that the koala is an Australian tourism asset worth millions. Notably,
Korean and Japanese visitors have had a long love affair with koalas. Today there is a billion dollar
sideline industry build upon the koala, ranging from key rings, to literature, to other oddments. The
Koala Foundation reports that there are close to 10,000 people employed in the koala industry.
None of this would have been possible without the crucial efforts of the
Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia (WPSA), which was
formed in 1909, principally for the protection of the koala, a native and unique animal to Australia.
A New Australia Poses Threat to Koalas
The Wildlife Preservation Society’s first recorded account of the plight of koalas was not made until
1803, a considerable time after settlement in the year 1788.
New Australian settlers discovered
it was easy to find and kill koalas, as well as being good eating, grilled over an open fire.
Their camp pet, the dingo, became a predator of koalas that travel on the ground from tree to tree.
In modern times, wandering domestic dogs are also killers of urban koalas, as are cars, which equal
them in carnage.
Wildlife Society Begins Work to Save Koalas
Figure 1. Koala Distribution
The story of how the Society saved the koala is a long one, always seeking to alter protection laws
for permanent conservation. Already by 1912, the koala was safe, at least in New South Wales.
A Wildlife Preservation Society report from 1927 detailed "… a most shameful wildlife slaughter that has ever disgraced
any state of Australia at any period of its history".
- Hunters had stockpiled skins, waiting for times when regulations might be relaxed and koala
skins could be sold legally
- Bales of koala skins could be sold by falsely labelling as "wombat" and exported legally,
mainly to the United States
Inspectors found some 2.5 million of such furs. When the Society wrote to State Premiers and the then
Prime Minister, to stop this illicit export, there was no success. However, a brilliant idea helped
resolve the problem…
American President to the Rescue
The American President of the day, Herbert Hoover, had a close association with Australia in his
early years as a mining engineer. The Society wrote to the President about the sad story of the
slaughter of the koalas, would he take action?
The President did. The Department of State in
Washington declared that all skins, no matter how described, would be banned.
This spelled the end for the illegal koala fur trade.
Koala Population Explosion and Remediation
Many koalas had been taken to Australian offshore islands. But without
natural enemies (dogs, foxes, cats) those koalas thrived until they ate themselves out of suitable
eucalypt trees. For example:
- Koala population exploded on Kangaroo Island (starting with only six koalas introduced in
1923). Many koalas were captured, tested for disease and then sent to approved fauna parks and
landholders.
- Koalas were starving on Quail Island - authorities translocated them to the forests of the
mainland.
Koala Conservation Management
In 1966, scientists were called for solutions. A longer-term conservation management strategy was to
plant more trees for food, not only on the islands but also in certain places on the mainland. As a
matter of conservation policy, excess koalas were to be translocated to stock sparse regions. This
programme proved to be successful to control the koala population in Australia.
References:
- "Conservation Victories and Battles Yet to Win". Vincent Serventry and Patrick W. Medway.
Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia. Brighton Le Sands, NSW. 2004.
The copyright of the article Saving the Koala: Historical Record of Survival for Australian Marsupial is owned
by Harry P. Schlanger. Permission to republish in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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