CURRENT STATUS OF THE KOALA IN QUEENSLAND AND NEW SOUTH WALES

According to fossil records, various koala species have inhabited broad regions of Australia and nowhere else on the planet for at least 25 million years (Adams-Hosking et al. (2011a). There is now only one remaining member of what was once a diverse family tree and that is Phascolarctos cinereus, the koala we see today. Since European settlement, koala populations have been under pressure due to habitat loss, primarily driven by urban development and agriculture.  

The koala is currently listed at the Commonwealth level as Vulnerable in Qld, NSW and the ACT under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999). This detailed analysis shows tree-clearing likely killed 179 koalas in South East Queensland in just two years, further pushing them towards localised extinctions.

Read the report: Current status of the koala in Queensland and New South Wales