Koala Diaries Blog

I have to be honest.  Campaigning for the koala is an uphill battle.  But, thankfully, every now and then something wonderful happens and it spurs me on to keep fighting the good fight for this beleaguered marsupial.  Such was the case when I attended the Noosa Arts Theatre earlier this month for a koala fundraiser organised by Sunshine Coast local, Meghan Halverson. More

On Friday 15 July from 7.30 pm, you are invited to join performers and experts, as they raise awareness (and funds!) on the plight of the koalas in South East Queensland. More

During the last week two milestones have quietly slipped by. More

It was the meeting that had to happen – not if, but when.  I’m talking about Oprah Winfrey meeting a koala during her visit to Australia.  And happen it did – on day one of Oprah’s antipodean adventure.  The young koala, Elvis, was part of the welcome line on Hamilton Island.  I could not help but note the irony that Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, was there too.  She, who’s state Labor party, and their Beattie/Bligh governments, has arguably done more to hasten the decline of the koala than any government.  A sad irony ...  More

OK, I know I’m a bit like a stuck record when it comes to Noosa’s koalas – and particularly the koalas of the Noosa National Park.  But as grim as the situation is here, it comes to light that this is just symptomatic of a much bigger problem in Queensland - an admission by the Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Kate Jones, that only 98 of the 576 parks and protected areas under the care of the Department of Environment and Resource Management have a management strategy. More

Today is Save the Koala Day, in Save the Koala Month. More

I was interested to stumble across a letter written to the editor of the New York Times in 1992.  It was an attempt to water down an earlier report in that very reputable publication that the koala was in dire trouble and on the fast track to extinction.  The letter was sent by a Mr Christopher Sweeney, Counsellor, Public Affairs at the Australian Embassy in Washington at that time. More

Member, Kathryn Kermode, has made a valuable contribution to Koala Diaries. She has watched and documented a colony of koalas in her neighbourhood of Kyogle for some time now. Kathryn keeps a record on her own website, and now does so via Koala Diaries as well. This brings insight to the health of koalas on a regional basis, rather than along state or electoral boundaries.  More

In a week when the nation’s media was focussed on political events in Canberra, another news story went almost unnoticed. More

I am not a koala carer. Our website, Koaladiaries.com.au is born of the realisation that I am in the majority, knowing very little about the koala. Already it has taught me so much about this truly wonderful animal. I have learned from people around the country submitting sightings with details such as "sitting in a Jacaranda", "swimming from Rabbit Island to Newry Island" and more.  More