I don't believe I don't have a better photo of a koala than this; at least it was photographed in the wild. I did have plans to go to a wildlife park last week to get some shots, but it did not eventuate.The koala photographed is asleep, wedged securely between branches; fascinating to watch.
Like a fish out of water, this koala is in dangerous territory. Soon after I took the photo, some National Park rangers came and rescued it.These photos were taken on French Island in Victoria. In the 1920's eighteen koalas were taken from there and relocated on Kangaroo Island, south of Adelaide. They have flourished there and as a result their numbers now exceed 25,000, causing enormous damage to eucalypt habitat.
Culling was suggested, but due to the koala being such an Australian icon and tourist attraction the idea was rejected. Instead a program of sterilisation and relocation has begun, along with re-establishment of native plants that the koalas have destroyed by their insatiable appetite.
You can read a media release about the program from the Department for Environment and Heritage here.
To find out more about ABC Wednesdays and see other participants' contributions go to the ABC Wednesdays' site or to see direct links to their own sites go here.
15 comments:
We Aussies are nothing if not predictable! My offering this week included a kangaroo AND a kookaburra!
I'm so pleased they rejected the idea of culling.
they look so cute...
glad a humane way to control their population was found.
Great and maybe obvious choice - but I am still bouncing over the Armstrong below. Did you manage a shot of the one following ?
Hi Gordon,
sweet bears although... they look sweeter than they are in reality, so I hearded.
watch my ABC's K for "Kinderdijk" 19 dutch mills/legend here: http://www.joannwalraven.blogspot.com/
Greetings JoAnn
HELLO ADELAIDE!!!!!!!
Great post!!!
That's the trouble with such human intervention: we don't know what we're starting.
That's a great photo though!
Sounds like a fairly good alternative, though I think culling would have been better. Replanting is good too.
Great choice for the letter K. I like that you took the Koala in the wild.
I was going to *do* koala for today but figured that everyone would expect that of me.
Oh well maybe next time.
Bear((( )))
I love your koala bear! It is adorable to the max : )! Hope your week is filled with blessings!
Hahaha...so cute. I never see a koala walk or crawl, they are usually asleep in the trees or hugged by tourists or the ranger.
Wow - never got to see one running & from the back. Excellent! The sleeping one is just adorable.
As a kid, I had a picture book about an English boy who took a koala back to England with him on a ship. The koala got sicker & sicker & finally the boy send him back to Australia. The book was in Serbo-Croatian & I wish I knew the name of it now.
I've only seen Koalas asleep up gumtrees. Great to have an alternative view and story from someone who knows them so well
How could anyone cull these adorable creatures.
What's all this about culling these cuddly beautiful creatures. Call a stop to it straight away. thanks for posting....
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