... you better have a tracking device as the koalas are all hiding out from the heat ...
We found Jordan quite deep in a patch of dense privet.
Privet is a serious environmental weed, yet we are finding more and more often koalas sheltering in many weed species to evade the escalating dry heat. This means their regular native shelter is already not giving them what they need. We have tracked him down deep in areas of privet twice now. If only this was a dense area of primary food trees (note this is NOT on my property but on a neighbouring property, and in fact as I upload now Jordan is in a huge primary koala tree right beside my kitchen window).
Thank you for the awesome questions, comments and favs on my photos.
He does not seem very happy. It seems a good thing for the koalas that there is shelter, for them somewhere but not for the environment and native plants
At least the privets give the needed shelter from the heat and Jordan is instinctively wise enough to come back to come back to the familiar tree and food ! Nice shot , perhaps of a rather hot and bothered Jordan !
I’m assuming that having to shelter in privet, rather than in a food tree means that it is harder for him to get the amount of food he needs. I love your shots but at the same time the story they tell makes me sad. Do you think these studies that they are doing will actually be able to help them survive, or is it just going to end up documenting a sad story?
@gardencat it is a good question indeed. koalas have always sheltered in other trees besides food trees, but we are definitely seeing a change in behaviour and finding them in species and types of shelter we never saw before. The whole problem the koala is facing is very complex. (and all wildlife, but the problems for each are a little different, just the same cause and the solution is the same - more habitat)
This particular research project is actually looking at the impact of wild dog populations on koala populations. It is a pilot study and it won't bring any change to the koala situation on its own, but it will hopefully bring up enough data to help understand some issues and probably open more study opportunities.
However, this is the important bit - they do only document a sad story because the ones that have the power to make a difference in this world have no intention of doing the right thing. We already have such a huge load of scientific evidence that is being ignored.
Let's face it, we have been warning about the impending changes to the worlds climate for 30 years or more and still there are many people who scoff and say nothing is changing.
I'm not putting my head in the sand, but I also know that I'm not going stop the march of greed for power that is driving all that we are watching happen.
Thank you for caring and commenting - I love it when my photos cause people to stop and think, and then to take the time to open up discussion :)
They are smart to figure out they can at least get shelter from the heat in several different trees. We'll see if their human counterparts can be smart enough to figure out how to preserve the ones they truly need.
I love koala, and I love this capture
This particular research project is actually looking at the impact of wild dog populations on koala populations. It is a pilot study and it won't bring any change to the koala situation on its own, but it will hopefully bring up enough data to help understand some issues and probably open more study opportunities.
However, this is the important bit - they do only document a sad story because the ones that have the power to make a difference in this world have no intention of doing the right thing. We already have such a huge load of scientific evidence that is being ignored.
Let's face it, we have been warning about the impending changes to the worlds climate for 30 years or more and still there are many people who scoff and say nothing is changing.
I'm not putting my head in the sand, but I also know that I'm not going stop the march of greed for power that is driving all that we are watching happen.
Thank you for caring and commenting - I love it when my photos cause people to stop and think, and then to take the time to open up discussion :)