There could be so few koalas left in the Parkes electorate they might not be able to come back from the brink, according to a koala conservation group.
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Australian Koala Foundation estimates there are only 750 koalas left in the area - and virtually none left in Dubbo - following years of habitat destruction.
Deborah Tabart, foundation chair, said it will take an "entire community effort" to save koalas in the central west, and this begins with stopping cutting down trees.
The not-for-profit organisation has mapped the area with drones, and found 47 per cent of the koala habitat remains in the electorate - so there is hope.
"I think you could confidently say that the koala populations around Dubbo are virtually non-existent," Ms Tabart told the Daily Liberal.
"Over the last 20 years, the population declines have been enormous."
Ms Tabart has heard anecdotal evidence of a small population - maybe 20 koalas - remaining in the Pilliga.
Other organisations - including governments - have their own estimates about the number of koalas remaining in the wild.
In 2020, a parliamentary report found there were only 15,000-20,000 koalas left in the wild in NSW and the animal was headed for extinction in the state before 2050. In 2022, the animals were put on the endangered list.
For Ms Tabart, it's no longer a question of how many are out there, but "what people are doing to protect them".
"And it just outrages me that everyone keeps talking about how they're going be extinct in 2050, but you don't see any real action - and the key action is, don't cut the trees down and don't disturb the habitats," she said.
Ms Tabart said industry, drought and bushfire had wiped out thousands of koalas in the Pilliga and she feared for their future.
"I honestly just can't see them returning. I really can't," she said.
The foundation believes if things continue as they are, koalas are "functionally extinct" - which means the koalas in the wild now might have a baby, and those babies might have babies, but the cycle will likely end there.
"In three generations, I think koalas are going to be gone, and a generation for koalas is eight years - sickening, isn't it?" Ms Tabart said.
"And this is a species that brings in billions of dollars in tourism ... in the old days, you could see them in the wild and now you can only see them in hospital after they've been injured in some way."
She continued: "I believe koalas in the Parkes electorate are probably incapable of being protected - unless everybody protects their landscape, the trees, and that will mean a huge community effort."
Ms Tabart said it is of the utmost importance people tell the NSW Department of Environment - and the Australian Koala Foundation - if they have koalas in their area, so they can be protected.
Koala rehabilitation
Sue Brookhouse, an amateur naturalist and koala rehabilitation volunteer in Coonabarabran, said the number of koalas coming into her care has dwindled.
She thinks climate change is the main culprit - as the weather is turning "too hot and dry for them" - as well as habitat fragmentation.
She said surveys in the Pilliga almost 30 years ago showed there were around 18,000 koalas in the area and the last survey a couple of years ago found only five individuals.
In the Warrumbungle National Park, which used to have "a really big koala population, probably around one every 15 hectares", koalas are now only found in pockets.
"The habitat has been fragmented by farming in the 40s when they brought in heavy machinery ... a lot of land clearing has reduced the pockets. Now it's getting too hot and dry for them out west," Ms Brookhouse told the Daily Liberal.
She said another population in Gunnedah, which used to be "quite significant", is "not fairing too well" as fragmented habitat had led to stress which had made the koalas more susceptible to chlamydia - which is deadly if not treated.
Thirty years ago when Ms Brookhouse moved to Coonabarabran, she was getting around nine koalas to care for per year - mostly for injuries like broken legs. That number dropped down to around one per year from 2003, and shot back up again when, during the 2019-20 drought, she ended up with five koalas in two weeks from the Pilliga and Warrumbungles.
Ms Brookhouse has a 10-kilometre pen she uses to rehabilitate koalas, and she travels for kilometres to source gum leaves. Depending on its injuries, a koala can stay for up to six months in her care - or more if needed.
"I don't have many koalas at all now," she said.
Some of Ms Brookhouse's koalas are released into Coolah Tops National Park once recovered, and she said some surveys had shown signs of the numbers there increasing - from around five animals a handful of years ago to 32 recently.
The koalas that come to her usually come from Bathurst, Pilliga and Warrumbungles - however there have also been animals from Dubbo over the years.
"As far as the western areas [are concerned], a lot of it has been cleared. Koalas have disappeared or are in such low numbers from years ago," she said.
Ms Brookhouse said there are still "quite a few" koalas in Bathurst, very few in the Warrumbungles, and a "rare" sight in the Pilliga.
She appealed to people who see a koala or have one on their property, to register it on the iNaturalist app or website so they can be protected. If you can, take a photo of it, and log the GPS location.
"A lot of people say, we know where there is a koala but we don't tell anyone - which is silly. We actually need to know where they are so we can monitor their health," she said.
Ms Brookhouse doesn't think anyone knows the true number of koalas out there - but numbers are declining.
"It's the hot and the dry that's their biggest enemies out west," she said.
Government response
Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton said the government had seen some evidence of koalas increasing in the Parkes electorate - and the Coalition Government had provided $50 million towards habitat restoration, research into and monitoring of koala populations.
"In the electorate of Parkes we have seen some evidence that koala populations are increasing, and I've had reports from areas such as Croppa Creek that koala sightings are becoming more common, with these animals even appearing in back yards and school grounds," Mr Coulton told the Daily Liberal.
He said he was aware of a "push from well-meaning people" who believed "locking up land is the best form of ecological management", however "this is not necessarily the case".
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"One example is the impact of out-of-control bushfires on koala populations where land is not correctly managed," Mr Coulton said.
"I advocate for balance between the management of land for both agriculture and ecology - I don't see that these need to be mutually exclusive. I believe that developments in technology and sustainable practices in agriculture can ensure that we can both achieve healthy populations of animals like koalas and continue to feed and clothe the nation."
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Sarah Falson
Daily Liberal journalist. I love telling people's stories. Get in touch at sarah.falson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Daily Liberal journalist. I love telling people's stories. Get in touch at sarah.falson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
