Koalas have been spotted on power lines, roaming roads, and even in educational institutions. Despite being emblematic icons of Australia, their listed status remains bleak.
In a residential backyard, enclosed by a sturdy metallic fence, two creatures locked eyes in a twilight encounter. With deep grumbles echoing, the koala progressed towards the retreating canine, giving an unusual impression of aggression, typically leading to the koala's demise.
However, this time, events took a different turn.
Neighbor Sophia Windsor could make out growls and barks from the street and rushed over to investigate. She found the dog shaking the koala by the belly and then the koala wrapping its arms around the dog's neck.
Windsor recounts, "I didn't even think about it, and I just managed to disengage the koala from the poor dog, who was now yelping, and then I sort of bundled up the koala before running back out to the front where my kid was waiting."
"And she's like, 'Mum, you're carrying a wild koala.'"
Koalas are notoriously challenging to spot at night, particularly against road surfaces which share their color. Their gray fur merges with the asphalt on dimly lit roads, and they move swiftly for beings recognized for their slow-paced tree-feeding habits.
In certain locations around Brisbane, sightings of this vulnerable species are becoming more frequent, especially during their breeding season. Not just up in trees, but also on fences, power poles, backyards, near swimming pools, in schools – areas that pose risks to these creatures.
Sadly, some are injured due to vehicle collisions or dog attacks. Others reveal indicators of chlamydia, an infectious disease spreading rapidly in stressed populations.
Koalas residing in Queensland continue to endure stress, and experts fear their population recovery from their 2022 endangered status may not be successful.
In Brisbane, which is renowned as the "world's koala capital," some fear that the few koalas left by the time of the 2032 Olympics would be relegated to forests miles away from the city.
Two koalas fought viciously in Toohey Forest, Brisbane, June 5, 2024.
Twice Rescued in a 24-hour Span
After Windsor rescued the injured koala from the dog, she struggled to call for help, preoccupied with the marsupial buried in her arm and the animal biting her hand.
"I was sustained by adrenaline," she admitted. "I even paused to consider that they were really plush and cuddly, like a real teddy bear--while it was biting my hand. They have a very forceful bite."
She managed to phone a friend who contacted John Knights, a seasoned koala rescuer from the United Kingdom who's retrieved more wild koalas than most Australians see in a lifetime.
Knights, 74, tackles rescue calls at all hours, stocked in his utility vehicle with specialized gear such as traps, cages, warning signals, poles, nets, and countless tools.
He had just finished with another rescue when Windsor reached out, but she unwisely released the koala in a nearby tree.
Knights was concerned about the koala's condition, having released it on such short notice, and fretted over its degraded health on the tree or its potential vulnerability to another attack once it made its way down.
An expert tree climber was eventually summoned to retrieve it, but the rescue would have to wait until morning.
Murray Chambers was the designated tree climber, given the challenges associated with the operation, including traffic, interlocking trees, and dangerously high altitudes.
"Everything," he nervously chuckled, "that's what you have to contend with."
He had managed similar rescues before and had scaled taller trees.
Chambers, who has spent 20 years with Koala Rescue Queensland, revealed that he receives fewer calls these days.
"We're losing them, so there are fewer cases," he said.
Upon reaching the tree, Chambers managed to capture the koala in a net as it attempted to leap between branches.
Each koala brought to the RSPCA Wildlife Hospital is given a name and a numbered tag. Windsor's rescue was named "Trent," after a nearby street.
Knights emphasizes that attempting to capture a koala can be dangerous since they possess powerful bites and sharp claws that can easily tear skin.
Trent received treatment for minor injuries sustained during the dog attack.
Nationwide Rescue Initiative
Koalas primarily inhabit Australia's eastern coast and are endangered in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, as well as Queensland.
In 2022, a 10-year national recovery plan was introduced to halt the decline in their numbers and improve the size, quality, and connectivity of their habitats in these endangered zones.
Millions of dollars have been plowed into reviving koala habitats, but despite this, their listed populations continue to dwindle, with a bleak outlook for their long-term survival in the wild, as per the annual report released in May.
The Queensland government implemented what is considered the most rigorous koala habitat protections ever seen within the state, but according to a DESI representative, this has only had modest effects.
Koala populations have maintained stability in non-urban forested areas, yet they have failed to do so in urban and semi-rural parts affected by "human activity and domestic dogs", according to the spokesperson.
The RSPCA's two wildlife hospitals in South East Queensland have treated more than 5,000 sick or injured koalas within the last six years, with only a 34% survival rate.
Veterinarian Tim Portas states that koalas are euthanized if their chance of recovery is negligible for them to survive independently in the wild.
"If things don't alter, I believe they'll be extinct in southeast Queensland within 20 or 30 years," Portas said.
"I frequently ponder, 'Am I observing the last of Queensland koalas filtering through as I work with them?'"
One of the three subspecies, Queensland koalas, are smaller and greyer, and are the variety commonly seen in photographs with celebrities and foreign dignitaries.
Habitat Loss
As part of the national recovery plan, the federal government pledged 76 million Australian dollars ($52 million) over four years to the Saving Koalas Fund to "support the recovery and long-term conservation of the koala and its habitats."
The Queensland government increased its contribution to koala conservation in its most recent budget, adding an additional 31 million Australian dollars ($21 million), and claims that over half of the mapped koala habitat in the southeast is shielded from development of any kind.
The state further aims to "commence rehabilitation to restore 10,000 hectares of koala habitat in South East Queensland by 2025", as the spokesperson stated in the report.
However, conservationists argue that this objective is far from ambitious considering the massive rate of deforestation elsewhere.
"It's an incredibly insignificant aim and inadequate for the task at hand," said Natalie Frost, from the Queensland Conservation Council.
During the 2021-22 financial year, over 320,000 hectares of 'woody vegetation' were cleared in Queensland, according to government records.
The majority of this clearing was carried out for cattle grazing pastures (88%) or development (1%).
Greenpeace claims that the majority of deforestation does not require any state-level approval or oversight.
"Aussies would be shocked to learn that we are razing koala habitats at such a rapid pace," said Gemma Plesman, senior campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
Most of the clearing occurred in the Brigalow Belt, north of Brisbane, and in the Mulga Lands, to the southwest, where the state's highest koala population estimates are located.
Climate change is making the state's inland areas drier and warmer, depleting vital nutrients in the leaves that koalas rely on to survive.
"The population modeling suggests that koalas will be moving eastward and southward ... and consequently, along the east coast, where we're facing increased pressure from urban development," said Frost.
Squeezed Koala Habitat in Cities
With a human population of 2.5 million, Brisbane is one of Australia's fastest-growing capital cities.
As a result, land is being cleared for new housing developments and facilities to serve expanding suburbs.
Jo Murray, a resident of Lawnton, a 40-minute drive north of Brisbane's city center, in the Moreton Bay region, has lived there for 40 years.
When she initially settled down, she was surrounded by dozens of koalas residing in eucalyptus trees, their main source of shelter and food.
"If you went for a walk early morning or evening, you would almost certainly encounter a koala," Murray said.
Over time, housing blocks have been erected, and, earlier this month, woodcutters arrived next door to fell towering eucalyptus trees, known as forest red gums, up to 28 meters (over 90 feet) tall, for a fresh housing development prospect.
These trees were set within Core Koala Habitat, which is nominally protected by law, but the developer did not require approval to remove them due to land-clearing exemptions in the state.
Landowners are permitted to clear 500 square meters (the size of an NBA basketball court) without formal approval. There are exemptions for firebreaks and other reasons.
Garth Nolah, from Nolah Property Developments, who advised locals about the tree-clearing, said a development application will be submitted soon and declined to provide further comment.
Trees presumed to host koalas were felled in Lawnton on September 3, 2024. A koala rescuer with nine years' experience, Karin Machell, informed CNN she witnessed the trees coming down and has subsequently ceased rescuing.
She's stated that she's rescued koalas named Beau and Louis multiple times throughout the years and can't bear the thought of doing it again after their habitat is destroyed.
"Once those trees disappear, Beau and Louis won't be around anymore," she expressed. "I don't want to be the one to pick up either of them."
Upon finding out that the neighboring property had been put up for sale months prior, she launched a petition and emailed the state government urging them to take action to protect the trees.
Her appeals went unanswered, leading her to question the government's dedication to safeguarding urban koalas.
"If they don't want koalas in urban areas and refuse to protect them, they should just come out and say it," she stated.
The state government dismissed the issue, directing CNN to Moreton Bay Council and promising "strong enforcement action" against developers who illegally clear koala habitats.
Moreton Bay Council declined to comment, but documents obtained by CNN suggest they considered the clearing to be within state exemptions.
External sources also hinted at state exemptions being misused to support development projects.
Urban sprawl
Most of the focus on creating more koala habitats is outside Brisbane's central areas.
Transforming existing urban landscapes needs more innovative solutions, according to Dr. Bill Ellis, a koala ecology expert from the University of Queensland.
Fences with log climbers have been installed to provide escape routes for animals crossing busy roads, and two years ago, Brisbane City Council built a bridge over a thoroughfare near a wildlife reserve.
The bridge has helped numerous possums and at least one koala cross the road, according to wildlife camera footage over the past eight months.
“Brisbane is the koala capital of the world, and we’re committed to maintaining that status,” said Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner.
Ellis believes that the bridge is a promising step forward, but more significant interventions are necessary to ensure koalas survive in suburban Brisbane.
"We may need many more of these bridges, and they'll result in a lot of movement. I'm not sure," he said.
"But the ability to move koalas from one side of a road to another isn't beyond our reach. It's a matter of willpower and funding."
He hopes that koalas will persist in suburban Brisbane, offering a sight for visitors attending the 2032 Olympics.
"Either we change our practices in southeast Queensland, or we'll have to send tourists far from the city and out of our suburbs to see a koala," he said.
"And I think that'd be quite disappointing."
Brisbane City Council erects signs during koala breeding season to warning drivers to slow down. ## Trent's second chance
In a way, Trent was fortunate – the husky thatAttacked him was not a natural predator for a lost koala.
According to the vet's records, Trent sustained minor cuts to his chin, some chest trauma, and mild internal bleeding.
"Stress from the hospital environment, ready to go back out into the wild," the notes stated.
Five days after the attack, Knights opted to release Trent in a tree located several meters off the trail in Brisbane's southern suburbs, where he felt more at home.
Volunteers carrying Trent in a cage prepared for his release at Mount Gravatt Outlook Reserve, August 21, 2024. Members of an eclectic team of volunteers, including a midwife, tattoo artist, public servant, automotive spray painter, student, speech pathologist, software engineer, and retiree, assembled when needed to hold a flashlight, carry a net, or "tree-sit" – sometimes overnight – to save koalas from harm.
Releasing koalas is just one of the rewards of a challenging and emotional endeavor.
This year alone, they've documented at least 52 dead koalas within a six-kilometer radius of nearby Whites Hill Reserve, with an additional 26 assumed to have been euthanized due to injury.
Windsor, who received a tetanus shot as a result of her koala bite – an uncommon injury even in Australia – witnessed Knights open the cage and watch Trent climb a tree.
"That was incredible. That was worth every bite a thousand times over!" Windsor exclaimed.
Knights estimates he's saved thousands of koalas during his 10 years of service.
He advocates for more trees to create safe passage through urban areas and dismisses suggestions that koalas have adapted to suburban living.
"They're scared. They're lost," he said.
"If they were urban-adapted, they wouldn't be darting into traffic, they wouldn't be appearing in backyards, they wouldn't be falling into swimming pools. They're not urban-adapted whatsoever. They're just looking for a place to live."
In the annual report released in May, it was noted that despite millions of dollars being invested in reviving koala habitats, their listed populations continue to dwindle, posing a bleak outlook for their long-term survival in the wild.
Since Trent was rescued, he has been living in the Mount Gravatt Outlook Reserve in Brisbane's southern suburbs, where he feels more at home.
