Koalas were
designed by nature to sit in trees and eat gum leaves. Two hundred years ago
their trees were mostly navigable above ground, and their ranges took in areas where
the water table sat higher for longer, so they had no need to drink. Apart from
being occasional fodder for a Powerful Owl or python, there was little else
they needed to do.
Today, with 80% of eucalypt forests cleared or severely modified, koalas
must come down to earth for many reasons. Moving to new feed trees, escaping
from a fight, seeking water in drought, looking for mates or searching for
their own territories are all reasons for them being seen on the ground more
often.
This means inevitably they must cross at least one, or whole networks of
roads, and where traffic volumes and speed limits are high there is small hope
for a lumbering little koala. Annually some 300 koalas are killed on
Queensland's SE roads alone. For an already nationally threatened species this
is a tragic and unsustainable loss.
While avoiding them is often impossible, there are some Dos for drivers
that lessen the risk of becoming one of those horrified drivers responsible for
killing a koala.
·
Do
slow down in zones with koala warning signs, even if only fractionally - the
slower pace will be a reminder to stay alert and watchful.
·
Do
set a personal limit of 80kph on country roads. Most are unsafe to travel at
higher speeds, even where the actual limit is 100kph, and you might also save
that annoyed driver following from hitting an animal, maybe a koala, and maybe
another car.
·
Do
add the local wildlife care group to your mobile's contact list, and include
any in planned travel locations. Call the group immediately if a koala is hit, and
give location details even if it looks uninjured, and even if it runs off into
the bush.
·
Do
report any dead koalas. Details of causes and a body can greatly add to koala research.
- Patricia Edwards
