Koala Woman Says
This electorate covers the Strathbogie plateau which the Victorian Government estimates has tens of thousands of koalas, and the Commonwealth Government blindly followed this assertion when they refused to list Victorian Koalas as Vulnerable back in 2012. At least with outside scrutiny they have reduced their 1995 estimate of 180,000 Koalas. Recent peer-reviewed AKF research indicates that there are no more than a couple of thousand Koalas here, disease and road mortality have taken a large toll over the last 20 years. We have repeatedly asked the Victorian Government for their scientific data; they have never replied to our request because they have none. In the Melbourne hearing of the Senate Inquiry, I watched as a Victorian Government scientist counted koalas on their fingers for the Senators. It appeared very unscientific at the time.
Elsewhere there are Koalas in the Chiltern Hills near Beechworth, and scattered populations in the hills between Seymour in Euroa. In the whole electorate there are only 50 records between 2010-2019, so either the population has crashed, or there can never have been that many Koalas. I still think our estimate is high and would really like more accurate figures to confirm our numbers.
Member for Indi
Will she Act or Axe?
Koala Numbers
Estimated AKF Koala Population: 2000 – 3000
Estimated Koala Habitat left: 66.3%
Estimated Federal Government Population: 20,000 – 35,000
The Victorian Government opposed the protection of the koala and there is no Federal protective legislation in place.