2016-04-19 P&E Committee - Item 4, Attachment 1 - Draft Koala Conservation Management Plan

1.2.3      Improve understanding of koala needs and behaviours

Koalas are solitary animals and very territorial. They often act aggressively towards
other individuals. Males are more aggressive. The home range of an individual koala
will depend on the habitat including available food trees. Within a socially stable group,
home ranges overlap at the edges, and that is where any social interaction takes
place. Koalas are very fussy eaters. They consume foliage of certain eucalypts,
although some non-eucalypts may contribute to the diet. Females produce just one
young per year.

It is not known how many Koalas there are in the Noosa Shire area. Locally, koalas
have been sighted at Peregian, Weyba, Sunshine Beach, Noosa National Park,
Tewantin, Tewantin National Park, Tinbeerwah, Cooroibah, Cootharaba, Doonan,
Lake Macdonald, Ringtail Creek, Yurol Forest, Pomona, Cooran, Kin Kin, Woondum
National Park and elsewhere. Recently there have been verified reports of a koala on
Noosa North Shore. Climate change is anticipated to alter the distribution of koalas
over time and drought can also threaten survival.

The current population of koalas in the Noosa Heads National Park Headland section
on the northern side of the Park are probably related to the two males and three
females purposely released there in 1966. These 5 koalas were translocated from
forestry sites near Beerburrum.

As the Queensland Nature (Koala) Conservation Plan 2006 notes, small fragmented
populations may result in inbreeding and thus a reduction in genetic variation. This in
turn can reduce the health potential and long-term viability of fragmented populations.
Koalas are subject to a range of diseases. Most significant and commonplace is KoRV
(koala retro-virus) and Chlamydiosis, which causes urinary tract infection, infertility and
sometimes death.

In 2015, Council engaged the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), Detection Dogs
for Conservation, to conduct koala presence/absence surveys on Council reserve and
on Land for Wildlife (LFW) properties. The survey helped to build on current
knowledge of the distribution of koalas sourced from Wildnet, Moggill Koala Hospital,
Council records and Koala Tracker. However, determining the presence/absence of
koalas does not provide information on the long term sustainability of koala
populations in different localities. Historic records indicate that infection (Clamydia and
KoRV) are the greatest cause of sickness and mortality in Noosa Shire. However,
these records have been gathered in areas frequented by people, and do not
necessarily reflect the health of koalas in the bush. Understanding the distribution and
extent of these diseases in koala populations would allow Council and the community
to focus management actions where efforts will be most effective.



        Recent modelling shows that targeting chlamydial disease, among the many
        variables adversely affecting koala survival, would have the greatest positive
        impact. Professor Peter Timms, Queensland University of Technology, Koala
                                        Summit 2012.

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