MIDCOAST Council is assessing the health of the koala population within the Bootawa Dam area with key research partners including the Koala Health Hub at the School of Veterinary Science of The University of Sydney.
Starting this spring, qualified wildlife handlers will catch, collar and tag koalas in a bid to understand the following points:
● The level of disease within the population and the health status of individual koalas.
● The role of habitat features such as water availability on koala health and habitat use.
● Whether the population is breeding at a self-sustaining rate.
● Whether the hardwood plantings are utilised.
● The impacts of lantana on koala health and habitat use.
Koalas will undergo a full health assessment before release and healthy adult koalas will be considered for a tracking collar.
The collars used will be custom fitted to each individual animal and provide GPS and radio tracking options.
“This study is designed in line with the NSW Koala Strategy Sentinel Program and follows all current wildlife research and ethics guidelines,” MidCoast Council said in a statement.
“The collars are designed with a breakaway mechanism to ensure they will release if the animal becomes entangled and sends alerts if unusual or no activity is registered.
“All alerts will trigger a welfare check within 24 hours.
“Koalas will be checked daily via GPS and visually at least once a month.
“You may see koalas marked in blue using stock mark paint which is water soluble and non-toxic. “This helps prevent accidental recapture during the field work.”
MidCoast Council stated it is confident that this research will guide an evidence-based management plan for the koalas at Bootawa Dam while addressing community concern.
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