The only change I made to data collection this year was to mark the food tree plantation as 2 sections because it has started attracting koala attention. Now that I have 2 full years of data on koalas in locations I can begin to analyse this.
Without a doubt 2018 has been a year of constantly exceeding expectations and proves that the answer is one simple word – HABITAT.
The final figures for 2018 saw koalas being found on the property a total of 355 days.
This seems like koalas were found 2 days less than in 2017 BUT the huge difference is that the only 10 days all year that no koalas were spotted on the property were the only 10 days all year that I was not present on the property. I was never gone for more than 3 consecutive days so it is fair to say there were in fact koalas on the property every single day in 2018.
This is huge when compared to 4 years previously when koalas were only found on 228 days out of the 365.
Over those days there were a total of 1372 adult sightings and 277 back young. This shows a continuing upwards trend and an average of nearly 4 koalas every single day. In fact the largest number of independent koalas seen on a single day was 9 (and there was 1 back young as well).
These days of sightings were the result of activity on the property by 30 individual adult/independent koalas.
Adding to these astounding figures is that the 4 regular resident adult females produced joeys, and all 4 joeys have become independent from their mothers ON the property. This has never happened before. 2017 we saw 2 of 4 joeys raised on the property remain, at least for a while.
Greta produced another joey which she brought onto the property once.
Tragically the colony matriarch Mist was taken by chlamydia at the age of 12 which is an awesome age to reach.
Her son Krissy was able to be successfully treated for the infection and released back home.
One other koala, Janis, walked onto the property with Chlamydia earlier in the year and was immediately captured.
There was NO other sign of ill health on the property all year.
Now settle back and look over the 30 koalas that lived on, or came through Koala Gardens during 2018