Liam McNally
A Moorabool koala expert is encouraging people within the shire to get to know their local koalas to help measure their population within the shire.
Brisbane Ranges Landcare Group secretary and koala researcher Allan Bartholomew gave a talk on koalas to the Lal Lal Landcare group at the Soldiers Memorial Hall on Monday, June 5.
The Lal Lal Landcare group is undertaking a long-term project repopulating koala-friendly trees along the Two Mountains Koala Trail, to eventually connect two colonies of koalas, which encourages genetic diversity and population resilience.
Mr Bartholomew encouraged the group to get to know the individual koalas they see during their work by using a nose identification method invented by Koala Clancy Foundation president Janine Duffy.
Mr Barholomew said each koala has a slightly different pattern on its nose “much like a human fingerprint”.
The Brisbane Ranges Landcare group has been participating in the Moorabool Koala Count, which is part of a National Koala Monitoring program – which is being undertaken to address data gaps in koala populations.
Mr Bartholomew said that while the evidence is mostly anecdotal until the count is done, koala populations in Moorabool seem to be in decline.
“One constant comment we all hear is that everyone can remember when koalas were
numerous but they are now very hard to find,” he said.
“Recent research and the results from many hours of looking for koalas confirms that Victorian koalas are struggling with the loss of prime habitat and reduced nutrient and moisture content of the leaves they rely on.
“Hopefully this monitoring program can collect knowledge about the distribution of our furry
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