Thirteenth koala count successful in Bongil Bongil National Park

THE community koala surveys held annually in Bongil Bongil National Park have concluded for 2025.

All five surveys this year were conducted during clear, calm and relatively warm nights, in stark contrast to the previous survey season, when two nights were washed out and strong winds hampered most of the surveys.

Enthusiasm for the surveys, which began in 2013, remained strong, with an average of just over 32 spotters in attendance each night, equalling a total of 157 person nights, equivalent to over 500 hours of volunteer effort.

Angela Wallace, who has been a koala spotter for the past eight years, said, “It’s just fabulous being out there in the stillness, being immersed in nature.

“The camaraderie in the team is wonderful, particularly when you see or hear a koala.

“I care a lot about wildlife, especially koalas, so this is a way of doing something on the local level.”

This year’s count was below the overall average by half a koala: eight koalas were seen in total over the five nights of surveying, just below the ‘koalas seen’ average of 8.5 over 12 seasons.

One group spotted a koala while driving to their final survey on Tuckers Rocks Road, but, because it was just outside the survey transect, and not seen during the survey proper, it could not be counted.

Fourteen koalas were heard, the lowest result for audible koalas since the drought year of 2019 (13 heard and 10 seen) and 21 percent below the average of 19 koalas heard per survey season.

Of those koalas seen, 75 percent were identified as smaller or young koalas.

One of the few outliers was a female with a joey on her back, indicating that breeding success is occurring across Bongil Bongil National Park with a younger cohort of koalas becoming dominant and occupying the forest.

All koalas seen appeared healthy and alert with no visible sign of ‘wet bottom’ or pink eye evident.
By Andrew VIVIAN