Dutch Thunder Wildlife Shelter- KOALA RESCUE PROJECT
Donating to Libby's fundraising WILL HELP SAVE THESE KOALAS.
Janet is a koala carer and rescuer in Macarthur in western Victoria. Koalas in the area live in Blue Gum plantations. Unfortunately they don't know what these plantations are actually for. They do not know what to do when they are removed from these trees and do not "relocate" very well or deal with being moved from their trees.
In 2017, Libby donated 2 sets of scales to the value of $350.00 to Janet. These allow Janet to accurately weigh koalas when they are in care.
In 2017, Libby donated 2 sets of scales to the value of $350.00 to Janet. These allow Janet to accurately weigh koalas when they are in care.
my scales
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Joeys in my pouches
large scales
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Blue gum Plantation Koalas
Koalas cannot move through plantations once they have been harvested. The ground is covered with slash (timber, bark, chips from the harvesting) and they don't feel safe or sometimes are physically not able to move through it. They strip the trees they are in until there is nothing left. They are more vulnerable to predators both on ground and in the sky and are exposed to more weather and wind with no shelter from the "forest."
Whilst harvesting, they are not always detected in trees until they are harvested causing death or life threatening injuries. They are not given any habitat corridors within coupes and it is expected that they will simply move to other trees. This is NOT possible. Koalas are territorial and have a home range- even in plantations.
Koalas are forced to move and in doing so,
- cross roads and are hit by cars
- they wander onto farmlands and into backyards where they are attacked by dogs or trampled by livestock.
We need to increase protection for them. We need to ensure they have habitat saved if they are found in coupes prior to harvesting. They need wildlife corridors within coupes and surrounding coupes. They need safe passages between trees in harvested coupes (clearing the land of slash immediately). They need more protection.
Koalas cannot move through plantations once they have been harvested. The ground is covered with slash (timber, bark, chips from the harvesting) and they don't feel safe or sometimes are physically not able to move through it. They strip the trees they are in until there is nothing left. They are more vulnerable to predators both on ground and in the sky and are exposed to more weather and wind with no shelter from the "forest."
Whilst harvesting, they are not always detected in trees until they are harvested causing death or life threatening injuries. They are not given any habitat corridors within coupes and it is expected that they will simply move to other trees. This is NOT possible. Koalas are territorial and have a home range- even in plantations.
Koalas are forced to move and in doing so,
- cross roads and are hit by cars
- they wander onto farmlands and into backyards where they are attacked by dogs or trampled by livestock.
We need to increase protection for them. We need to ensure they have habitat saved if they are found in coupes prior to harvesting. They need wildlife corridors within coupes and surrounding coupes. They need safe passages between trees in harvested coupes (clearing the land of slash immediately). They need more protection.
Koala left stranded in a harvested plantation. Machinery at the bottom ready to continue harvesting the next working day. The workers returned the following morning- the koala was not seen in these trees when we returned to check at 8.30am
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seen on a sunday afternoon. no work being done but workers returned the following morning.
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Young Koala in a plantation
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Stranded koala in harvested plantation.
Found near Plantations
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Found inside plantations
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