Threatened koala colonies in urban bush reserves fight back

KOALA sightings are more prevalent than ever in southeast Brisbane bush reserves with experts astounded by the resilience of some urban colonies.

KOALA sightings are more prevalent than ever in southeast Brisbane bush reserves with experts astounded by the resilience of some urban colonies.

Wildlife experts are spotting more koalas in the southeast suburbs in recent years than previously recorded.

Whites Hill Pine Mountain Community Group president Heather Barns has conducted bush walks through Whites Hill for 20 years and said more koalas had been spotted in the last three years than in the previous 17 years.

“Every walk bar one in the last 12 months we have seen at least one koala. We have seen koalas and wallabies only about 5m off the actual track,” she said.

Koala scat sampling results released by Brisbane City Council last year showed Whites Hill had the second highest number of koalas of 13 reserves studied, behind Brisbane Koala Bushlands at Burbank.

Belmont Hills was the third highest and Toohey Forest the fourth.

Carina Heights-based volunteer RSPCA wildlife rescuer Angela Christodoulou said she had returned about 80 koalas back into Whites Hill Reserve in the past three years.

“There is a massive amount of koalas at Whites Hill,” she said.

“The population of koalas at Whites Hill are quite healthy. The rescues around there are either car strikes or dog attacks.”

Ms Christodoulou recently set up her own group Queensland Koala Society to protect koala colonies in the southside of Brisbane.

“I’ve done 337 rescues for the RSPCA in the past three years and also rehabilitate koalas. Now my focus is on looking after the wild koalas in our area,” she said.

Council last week released results of its latest population mapping survey of koalas which showed high activity at Mt Petrie Road Park, Belmont.

The council recently purchased two sites connecting to Belmont Hills Reserve, 15 acres of land near Ewer St and a smaller site off Scrubb Rd.

Acting Mayor Adrian Schrinner said 85 per cent of the latest bushland areas surveyed showed evidence of the at-risk species.

“Between May and July, two highly trained detection dogs sniffed out 20 sites that Council has acquired as part of its Bushland Acquisition Program, to provide information on koala health, genetic diversity, breeding and movement behaviour,” Cr Schrinner said.

“The survey identified the presence of koalas at 17 of 20 sites explored, of which 10 sites registered a significant amount of koala activity.”