EARLY findings of a university survey into the safety of koalas have shown that people don’t know their dogs can be trained not to attack wildlife.
Logan is home to hundreds of koalas, however the state government has this month put an ‘endangered’ tag on their population.
Griffith University research fellow David Fechner is surveying people to find out how best to stop the decline in koala numbers, instead identifying and easing the threats to their safety.
“One of the early findings is that people are simply not aware that they can train their dog in wildlife avoidance,” Dr Fechner said.
“That’s obviously a good finding for us because now we can design campaigns to raise awareness so people can actually train the dogs to leave wildlife alone.”
Social Marketing at Griffith is funding the research that will listen to and understand what locals know about koalas in South East Queensland.
“The Queensland government just listed koalas as ‘endangered’ which means they have 20% less chance of survival in the wild, which is terribly sad news,” Dr Fechner said.
“The survey is an opportunity for Logan residents to share their thoughts on koala conservation initiatives that are already in place from the government, and determine what everybody can do differently in the future.”
Dr Fechner says the first community survey was implemented last year and a follow-up survey is now being conducted with the hope of seeing an increase in positive actions.
“We want to know if residents are aware of the main threats to koalas in South East Queensland because some of them are actually quite preventable by residents themselves,” he said.
“Reducing speeds in koala zones, for example, is an effective way of preventing vehicle strikes.
“So we also want to ask people if they know when koala breeding season is because that’s the time when koalas are more active.”
In response to Logan City Council’s most recent koala breeding season campaign developed in conjunction with the Department of Environment and Science and Social Marketing @ Griffith, ‘slowing down’ while driving has been cited as one of the biggest changes in people’s behaviour.
According to Australian Koala Foundation, since 2018, there has been an estimated 30% decline in the number of koalas across Australia.
Nature Campaigner for the Queensland Conservation Council (QCC), Jon Ferguson says “the uplifting of the koala from vulnerable to endangered in Queensland is a heartbreaking and necessary act for this iconic Australian animal.
“We canʼt stand by and let this species disappear.”
Local koala habitat areas include: Shailer Park, Daisy Hill, Bahrs Scrubs, Chambers Flat, Park Ridge, Jimboomba, and Greenbank.
The community koala survey is now open and you can complete it here.
