FIRST EVER Wild Koala Day Celebration

It's almost Wild Koala Day!

You'd be forgiven for not having heard of this event,
since this is the first Wild Koala Day on Sunday the 7th of May.

Koala enthusiasts will congregate at Old Petrie Town to celebrate the community contribution to the preservation of the koalas of Moreton Bay region and their habitat. 

This is a 30 minute drive from my house and I have been there countless times.
My best friend has a property in this area and she gets koalas in the eucalyptus trees there.
In fact she was married in the old church there built by her husband's grandfather.

I used to take my overseas visitors to see koalas in the wild especially around Noosa.
But these days it's getting harder to do this.

Urbanisation and road building has reduced their habitat immensely.  

This is partly because although there are over 600 species of Eucalyptus, the koala's eat only around 30. They tend to choose species that have a high protein and low  fibre. In some areas of Australia, koala corridors have been established by preserving or planting the trees koalas like to eat.

On 30 April 2012 Koalas were listed nationally as vulnerable in
Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT.

Koalas can no longer rely on diminishing remnant bush land.

These days much of the koalas' habitat is on private property
which means we need to do more to ensure the survival of the koala for future generations.

Without human intervention to save these precious and unique animals,
we may be seeing the beginning of the end for koalas in our urban areas.