The Lounge Bracelet

Koalas are tracked for many reasons—to track survivorship and generate life history data, to see what areas of the island they use at various times of the year, and to understand how much habitat and range overlap exists. Conservation scientists also like to investigate their sociality and interactions.

To learn more about the work our partner is doing, visit their site directly at https://sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/species/koala. 

Conservation scientists track them using a combination of tools, including store-on-board GPS loggers that record locations several times each day, and VHF transmitters that allow us to find the koalas in the forest. Each koala has a collar weighing about 80 grams that has the GPS and VHF attached.

To learn more about the work our partner is doing, visit their site directly at https://sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/species/koala.

No, and in fact at some sites conservation scientists get alerts (not at St. Bees Island) if the koalas are moving very slowly, and can check to make sure they are ok. Each collar also has a rubber weak link that degrades over time, so if the collar fails in some way, it will fall off the koala after several months. Additionally, this weak link expands so that the koala will never become entangled or caught in a branch. This means sometimes conservation scientists go looking for the koala, and all they find is a collar, with a free koala at large somewhere nearby!

To learn more about the work our partner is doing, visit their site directly at https://sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/species/koala.

Koalas are listed as vulnerable according to the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List, with populations decreasing. Their primary threats to survival include habitat loss and fragmentation, drought, disease, vehicle strikes, and dog predation. 

You may have heard the phrase “koala bear” before, but koalas are marsupials! These are a group of mammals who give birth to live young who instinctively know to crawl into Mom’s pouch to finish their critical development. The females’ backward-facing pouch protects their offspring from branches as they climb around. 

Baby koalas are called joeys!

Male koalas tend to snort or make bellowing noises, especially to attract a mate, while both males and females can grunt or screech. Young joeys sometimes squeak when calling out to Mom.

Koalas mainly dine on eucalyptus leaves, though they’ll sample other types of leaves as well. To many other animals, eucalyptus can be fatal if ingested, but koalas’ digestive systems have evolved to tolerate the toxins. They can eat up to 2.5 lb (~1 kg) of eucalyptus leaves each day!

Koalas inhabit the eucalyptus forests and woodland habitats of the eastern and southeast regions of Australia. The koalas we track in partnership with San Diego Wildlife Alliance reside on St. Bees Island, which lies about 31 miles (50 km) off the coast of Makay, Queensland.