Where did the koalas in Warrandyte State Park go?

Koala populations have called Warrandyte State Park home for decades, with Pound Bend Reserve known as a popular koala-spotting area. There, Manna Gums hug the riverbank of the Yarra River, a popular food choice for the national icon.

However, comments from locals and growing unrest online suggests koala sightings in the area have decreased over the last decade.

Members of Friends of Warrandyte State Park, a volunteer group focused on conservation and rehabilitation of native bushland, told the Eastern Melburnian numbers of koala sightings have certainly dropped off.

So, what has happened to the koalas in Warrandyte State Park?

🐨 Koala numbers are far from cute: “Almost all members had seen koalas locally, but not in the last 10 to 15 years,” a Friends of Warrandyte State Park spokesperson said.

“Observations were at Pound Bend Reserve and other locations within Warrandyte State Park, with an outlier at Park Orchards.

Further afield, the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) records koala numbers in federal electorates across Australia where koalas are known to exist.

Warrandyte State Park falls in the Casey electorate, where about 86.8 percent of koala-friendly eucalypt forests remain.

However, it’s believed there are fewer than 100 koalas that now call it home.

It’s believed five to ten koalas call the neighbouring Menzies electorate home, and available koala-friendly habitat is estimated at 46.9 percent.

According to the AKF, fire burning down habitats and dieback - the gradual dying of trees due to factors such as land degradation, rising underground water levels and exposure to weather - have played a role in population losses.

Natural environment non-profit Carbon Landscapes also said changing rainfall behaviours and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to climate change have altered the amount of protein and water in gum leaves – increasing the level of toxic tannins exposed to koalas.

📣 Calls for MPs to support a national Koala Protection Act: Australian Koala Foundation chair Deborah Tabart OAM said she and her team have been contacting MPs, asking them to support a national Koala Protection Act.

“I don’t know if they're not interested,” she told the Eastern Melburnian.

“They are only interested in supporting the Biodiversity Conservation Act because the koalas are listed federally.”

According to the Foundation, the State Government opposed the protection of koalas with the view there is an overabundance of koala numbers in Victoria.

So, why would the Victorian State Government say there is an overabundance?

“We've got enough clear land in this country to do whatever we like without having to knock down another tree,” said Tabart.

“We argue that every koala in Australia should be treated equally under law.

“There is absolutely nothing in Victoria that protects koalas and their habitats. It’s outrageous.”

🦮 🚗 Current threats: According to the Friends of Warrandyte State Park group, koalas in the area were “vulnerable to attack by dogs and motor vehicles”.

Tabart said she has seen the broader impacts human populations are having on the environment around the world, including monocultures, urban housing not being suited to current conditions and the greater risk of bushfires.

“I believe we should be writing human plans for management, not a koala plan.”

A spokesperson for Parks Victoria said there have been no “recent sightings of koalas in the park” and they “don’t have any koala count data available that would indicate current numbers of koalas in the park”.

Photo Credit: Richard Payne/Warrandyte Nature Facebook group