The Brisbane reserve where koalas are making a comeback
Our national icon, the koala, is disappearing fast — except in one remarkable Brisbane bushland refuge.
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What started with a koala sighting in Toohey Forest by a Moorooka man has become an online hit.
Brad Lambert has not only developed a large fan base on his Facebook page, Toohey Forest Wildlife (865 followers at last count), he has shown the area’s koala population is thriving.
So much so, he believes wildlife carers might be dropping off rescued animals in the forest.
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“In September last year, when I first started to see some koalas, I set up an Atlas of Living Australia account. I now have 200 pins on it,’’ Mr Lambert said.
Mr Lambert said on his best day, he had sighted nine koalas and he often found as many as five.
“A survey, The Island of Suburbia, was done in 1987 and there were nowhere near as many koalas,’’ he said.
“I’m 98 per cent sure wildlife carers have dropped off some of these animals from other areas.
“These are all healthy animals and some are even tagged, even though council does not tag them.
“I’ve heard some have been moved from the Redlands to Toohey Forest.’’
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Mr Lambert said maps of sightings and scats (droppings) showed most of the koalas, especially over summer when they were more actively moving, were congregating along creek banks.
The mothers, in particular, seemed to favour creek environments on the western side of the reserve, near Griffith University.
Mr Lambert said one of the big threats was people walking dogs off leash.
“Between February and May, 20 of the 21 people I saw with dogs had them off leash,’’ he said.
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