A funding agreement has been secured to progress Brisbane City Council and The University of Queensland’s Koala Recovery and Resilience Project.
Announced during the 2024 Brisbane City Council election, the project aims to reinforce koala populations in key areas identified by koala experts.
The project will assess several Brisbane bushland locations for the release of koalas.
In many of these areas, koala populations are dwindling so the release of new healthy individuals will improve their long-term prospects.
“Brisbane is the koala capital of the world and we’re teaming up with leading universities to make sure it stays this way,” said Lord Mayor, Adrian Schrinner.
“This funding injection will go a long way in ensuring Brisbane’s wildlife is preserved and our incredible lifestyle protected for future generations.”
This program is based on the recent success of Council funded research projects at Pooh Corner and Wacol Bushlands reserves, in Wacol.
Koalas had become locally extinct in these areas until the reintroductions began and now Koalas Sean, Francois, Adam, Matilda, Karri, Lady Jane, Glenda, Chandler, Heaven, Attie, Olive, Oscar, and two yet-unnamed baby joeys call the reserves home.
All evidence suggests the furry locals are thriving with one young already weaned and two new joeys recently born through the reintroduced population.
The potential release locations will soon undergo thorough site inspections by UQ’s Koala Ecology Group to assess habitat quality and the health and abundance of resident koalas, and to identify any potential threats.
Koalas will be sourced through local wildlife hospitals and bushland areas where they are abundant, with a focus on young dispersing individuals that are searching for new habitat. All koalas will be given veterinary health checks prior to release and will be monitored with tracking devices.
Koalas released into these areas will also receive the groundbreaking koala chlamydia vaccine, created by the Queensland University of Technology.
Brisbane City Council is helping fund the registration fee for the vaccine which will make it available for use by wildlife hospitals and veterinarians across eastern Australia.
Chlamydia has been detected in around 21% of Brisbane’s koala population so tackling this key threat is critical to supporting a healthy and resilient koala population into the future.
“The vaccine will be a shot in the arm for our current koala population, but it also has the potential to have permanent positive changes in the way we manage and treat koala diseases into the future,” aaid Lord Mayor Schrinner.
The University of Queensland’s Dr Sean FitzGibbon said the proactive project was a win-win for Brisbane’s koalas.
“It provides young dispersing koalas with the new habitat they are seeking and helps bolster dwindling populations in the areas they are released,” he said.
“The health of resident koalas at release sites will be examined, and sick koalas will be treated and vaccinated where possible. Combining this with the release of healthy new individuals will result in increased reproduction and ultimately population growth, in the years to come,” he said.
“Since the early 2000s we have seen a 70-80% decline in many koala populations across Queensland so koalas need all the help we can give them,” said QUT School of Biomedical Sciences Professor Ken Beagley.
“A healthy koala can live for eight to 12 years in the wild. Once you get a geographically isolated population that is stressed, chlamydia can take hold. Infection causes infertility, blindness and urinary incontinence, and local populations can die out.
“We now have enough data to show the vaccine is safe and effective and so the next step is to go for registration. Once the vaccine is registered, it will be available more widely, and veterinary clinics and wildlife hospitals will be able to use it without delay,” he said.
