2021 - year SEVEN of daily sighting, observation and photography
During 2021 I have been thankful to see more recovery from the drought and fires of 2019. The progress is too slow for my comfort, but it is progress.
Climate change continues to impact how koala numbers are declining as they struggle to survive in an ever changing landscape. Through my work to restore habitat and observe and record the koalas I strive to bring awareness to you all. We can change what is happening together.
There were a total of 969 adult sightings. This takes the daily average from 1.9 koalas per day in 2020 to 2.7 koalas per day in 2021 . This is a welcome increase in the numbers that we were trending towards in 2020, and there is a lot more work to be done.
During the dispersion (from July each year), new koalas began moving through and onto the property each year. This is particularly important for the re-stabilising of the colony over the next 1 – 2 years and maintaining genetic diversity.
These days of sightings were the result of activity on the property by 31 individual adult/independent koalas.
16 of these 31 koalas were males and 15 females. How exciting would it be to see even more females in 2022?
Interestingly, I saw no koalas with disease this year.
The kindy has been host to 15 koalas for different reasons during this year. This is another way Koala Gardens assists saving koalas. The kindy was kindly funded by ifaw and FOK and koalas are in the kindy under the rescue and rehabilitation licence of FOK.
So now get settled and enjoy looking back over the 31 koalas that lived on, or came through Koala Gardens during 2021.
You can watch them all on YouTube with the link below giving you all the video released in 2021.
MATILDA
was seen here a whopping 220 times. That is nearly 2 out of every 3 days.
Just look at the gorgeous roundness of her.
She is a joy to watch eating as she loses herself in the joy of munching through those leaves.
She has lots of video at YouTube and even has her very own playlist below.
BULLET
was here 146 days which is a lot of sightings and what a joy he is to behold.
Bullet survived an incident with a dog and is easily identified by his nose pattern and what a good looking fella he is! I often see him from my kitchen window, what a treat.
He has lots of video at YouTube and even has his very own playlist below.
ELLIE
was seen here 120 times, so nearly as often as I saw Bullet.
However, she spends her time high in the top of trees in areas 10 and 11. She is a little younger than Matilda and those ears are adorable.
She has lots of video at YouTube and even has her very own playlist below.
JESSE
was seen 68 times after his amazing Houdini style escapes from the kindy and the soft release.
That face is adorable and he won all our hearts.
I like to believe that he found his own space in this area to live Wild and Free.
He has his own YouTube playlist below, you won’t believe this scraggly fella.
LUNA
First joey, daughter of Phoenix. Third generation born here at Koala Gardens. She was spotted 55 times after she became independent of her mum.
How amazing is she? That round face and dark fur just makes my heart smile.
He has her own YouTube playlist below, see her in all her glory. Live well, Wild and Free beautiful girl.
HUGO
was only seen 47 times.
He wasn’t seen for many months after the breeding season, but then suddenly he was back again. Alpha males have to move around a lot and work hard. Just look at the size and strength of this fella. Marvellous!
He has his own YouTube playlist below so you can enjoy all his antics.
PHOENIX
was only seen 27 times all year.
But when you consider that she raised her first joey, Luna, and then left her here to become independent, I guess we will forgive her for not always being around.
She is a huge, strong koala, and the only female to have a joey this year.
She has her own YouTube playlist below, check her out.
The Kindy enclosure at Koala Gardens is used for 2 main reasons.
Firstly to help with the final rehabilitation stages of koalas that have had serious head or limb injuries. They are able to completed physiotherapy and observations here.
Secondly, orphaned koalas that are ready to test out their readiness for the wild come here and spend a few weeks learning some vitals skills. After a successful stay here, they go on to release.
Enjoy some time watching various videos of visitors to the kindy through this playlist.
STARK
spent time in the kindy learning to climb real trees and make decisions.
He did very well in the small wild kindy area and was successfully released back near where he was born.
Do well out there young lad, wild and free now!
HOWIE
was here for 23 days in the Kindy enclosure.
He was such a character. This photo was taken within an hour of him being released into the kindy area.
Just look at how laid back he is already, taking ownership and checking out the menu.
He left the kindy to be released with Stark, back out into the wild where he belongs.
SWIFTY
was here for 21 days, and always in the Kindy enclosure.
Swifty had a complex start to life, losing his mum early. He spent a long time in care, firstly with just one home carer as his needs were so many and complex.
He graduated through the levels of care and did well here.
Sadly, he then took a turn for the worse and despite all efforts, he was lost to some complex infections.
Trying to save koalas is hard work, and can be heart breaking.
KOLA
always had such a great fun look on her face.
Wouldn’t you love to see how big she must be now?
She did very well here and graduated to go out and be released into the wild.
Live long and well Kola and may you have many healthy joeys during your life.
CARLISLE
was one of those that sticks in my mind.
Just look at that nose pattern he has.
He had a hard start to his life, but with a lot of care and attention he made it to test his skills here in the kindy.
He quickly showed us that he knows what a koala should do, and thrived.
He was successfully released into the wild.
BARLEY
was here for 16 days, and always in the Kindy enclosure.
He was like a little round grain seed too, just like his name.
But don’t let looks deceive. He was tenacious and loved being able to leap about in the trees and fresh air.
He graduated well from the kindy and went on to be released as a wild and free koala. Live well mate!
CUPID
was here for 16 days, and always in the Kindy enclosure.
Just look at those ears!
He looks like he could almost take off flying, especially when he would leap from one branch to another.
It is so rewarding to watch these young koalas gain so much independence out here and get ready for the wild.
TEMPLETON
was always a fairly quiet little lad while here.
The night cameras showed that he was doing everything right and moving about all time. This is always so good to see. Many of these young koalas are in care for a year or more.
That means that the final release is truly a celebration.
WEBSTER
was here for 15 days, and always in the Kindy enclosure.
He is another young fella with a great nose pattern and wonderful set of flapping ears.
He did all we could hope for here in the kindy trees and was successfully released to the wild again.
FARO
was here for 15 days, and always in the Kindy enclosure.
He was hit by a car and suffered a head injury.
He spent nearly 4 months in hospital and there were a few times we were not sure that he would make it.
He came to the kindy to be observed by night cameras to ensure his vision was perfect, that his brain had healed (that he could walk a straight line) and that he was coping with climbing and making decisions.
He passed with flying colours and look at that face. What a joy.
He was successfully released back into the wild and we wish him the longest life of health.
JAMIE
was here for 14 days, and always in the Kindy enclosure.
She was also hit by a car, and lost her left eye as a result.
She had a pinky attached to the teat in her pouch, and with all that happened, even the young one survived.
When she came here nearly 2 months later, she had a wriggling pouch bulge.
The cameras showed that she was coping well with only one eye. One issue can be depth perception, but she moved regularly from tree to tree. She was even seen jumping without a hitch several times.
I can’t describe the joy in saving both a big healthy mum and her joey, and being able to release them back into the wild.
I hope she goes on to produce many more joeys.
WILBUR
really had a bad run for a year or so.
He was brought into care in 2020 at only 1 kg. After some time in care he was released looking terrific, but was found again only a month later in very poor condition.
So back into care he came. He could put weight on, then lose it again and was a little baffling. Sometimes we don’t know exactly why one young one fails to thrive so well. But we continue on.
Again he was released, and again he was found poorly a month later.
He spent a further 3 months in care. After his last release we haven’t seen him so we hope he has managed well this time and is living his best life.
KILLARA
was only seen here 10 times.
What a beauty she is, don’t you think?
She looks a lot like Ellie, but her nose pattern identifies her easily.
A beautiful young girl with big ears. She came onto the property during the dispersion time. I did not see her for 10 consecutive days, but during the time she was here, she made her way across the property and off again.
I like to think she is now living wild and free, and who knows, maybe she left here with a joey!
ASH
was only seen 9 times.
Ash has been awesome to follow because he would just pop into the property, pretty much once a month.
When he first came through here in April 2020, he was a juvenile.
Over the past year or more he has grown significantly and is beautiful big boy.
I often think of him and like to imagine that he lives very close by, even if he doesn’t pop into the eastern side of the property any more.
He was always seen only in trees along the eastern boundary, so it’s very possible, even likely that he not far away.
Live long mate and produce lots of joeys to keep our koalas going.
NINA
was only seen 8 times and I wish she had stayed around more.
Nina was only around 3.5 kg when she came through, so she would have separated from her mum during the past months.
She always seemed to have a real mischievous twinkle in her eye. I’m a little partial to the dark coated koalas too, so she always caught my attention.
She came through during the dispersion time. Look at that broad white bottom – just what we want to see on our koala girls!
I hope she lives long and produces many beautiful joeys.
FEY
Arrived on Christmas Eve 2020, was here for 7 days into 2021, and always in the Kindy enclosure.
She was a delightful addition to the kindy rehabilitation enclosure and was one of the most relaxed girls I’ve seen in there.
Notice what a pretty pale grey colour she is?
She did very well in here, and graduated to be released back into the wild.
MEGGS
Arrived on Christmas Eve 2020, was here for 7 days into 2021, and always in the Kindy enclosure.
She was a buddy with Fey this time, but she was also here in 2020.
She did not do so well in the wild after her first release, so was brought back into care.
In 2021 she came back into care with her first joey, Keogh.
She had developed a respiratory infection and was in a terrible way. Unfortunately she did not survive as the damage internally from the infection was widespread.
It is a comfort that she was able to produce one joey, but losing a female is always incredibly sad.
BLOOM
Arrived on Christmas Eve 2020, was here for 7 days into 2021, and always in the Kindy enclosure.
Bloom came in with Meggs, Ivy and Fey. What a holiday period it was to have 4 beautiful females here.
She did really well in the kindy and graduated to be released back into the wild.
Live well and long beautiful girl.
IVY
Arrived on Christmas Eve 2020, was here for 7 days into 2021, and always in the Kindy enclosure.
Ivy was the fourth girl to be here in the kindy over the holiday and new year period.
Easily identified because she is such a lovely dark girl.
She was always a bit more aloof and independent from the others in the kindy.
She graduated brilliantly and was released back into the wild.
Great success story.
EMMA
was only here 6 days, but she made them all count.
Look at that awesome nose pattern she has.
During that time she had some close encounters with both Bullet and Hugo.
Spoiler alert – she comes back in 2022 with a joey and the math works out!
She has her own YouTube playlist, you can see the story for yourself.
BOBBY
was only here 4 times.
What a round and chubby fella he is.
He arrived when there were a few youngsters in the kindy and spent 3 days hanging out near the enclosure. Maybe he liked the company, as he was a similar size to them!
He left the property but came back through a few months later, looking big and healthy and way up high in a red gum.
I bet he is one huge fella now living out there wild and free.
BELA
was only here a total of 3 days.
What an addition she would have made – she is stunning.
Notice she has a wonderful nose pattern, and those ears.
She moved through the easter area of the property heading north.
I hope she lives long, wild and free producing many joeys.
ROCKET
was only seen 3 times. He is a juvenile and stumbled into Bullet’s area, twice.
Both times, he did have some altercations with Bullet. Young males have a lot to learn when they start dispersing and looking for a home to make for themselves.
I hope he found somewhere that allows him lots of good food trees and some girls as well.
He is a real stunning fella to look at, so live long out there in the wild mate.
FABIO
was only seen here once.
He was also here just once in 2020.
He is a lovely dark coated fella, with big ears and a twinkle in his eye.
He was seen up at the top of the ridge near the south western boundary of the property.
I hope he has found a home with lots of food and girls too.
Live well out there in the wild mate.
