Meghan Halverson is a talented filmmaker and passionate about koalas, and she has combined these two elements to create movies that inspire others to also care about the koala. Below is her latest movie and its reason for being, in her own words. Koalas are an iconic species of Australia.... More
KoalaTracker is Australia's national koala map and database, mapping the location of koala populations, points of impact and causes of death and injury for the public record. KoalaTracker empowers localised advocacy, enables more effective risk mitigation, adds to research and engages the community to save the koala. This blog discusses the knowledge gained through member submissions, koala mapping and location intelligence, scientific research and government action. Please join the conversation.
Queensland rolling back environmental protection
Alex Harris - Monday, May 06, 2013
I pity the staff of Department of Environment & Heritage Protection (DEHP) charged with managing wildlife, ecosystems and sustainability, for the conflict the Queensland government has now established in policy with the Mines Minister announcing changes to the Vegetation Management Framework. In the name of ‘greentape reduction’, significant land will... More
Wild koalas: slow life in the fast lane
Alex Harris - Thursday, May 02, 2013
Some months ago I alerted members by email to this upcoming documentary which we thought would air on ABC at the end of last year, but is now to air on National Geographic later this year. The koala is in a turf war, and losing. Drawing on recent research into... More
We don't know what we don't know
Alex Harris - Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Everything you can read on koalas will tell you they only eat eucalyptus leaves. It’s what we know. “Koalas are strictly leaf eaters. Koalas have strong regional preferences for certain eucalypt species. In a particular district, koalas may feed almost entirely on one or two species.” - Department of... More
Killer cows
Alex Harris - Thursday, April 11, 2013
I don’t know why it is, but cows kill koalas. It is not just in Gippsland. Farmers need to be aware of the danger to koalas. Cows will circle and trample to death a koala traversing ‘cow’ territory. Perhaps it is the male’s bellow that draws the cows’ attention, or... More
Koalas are water guzzlers!
Alex Harris - Monday, April 08, 2013
One of the wonderful benefits of membership to KoalaTracker is the element of education. The koala is such an important economic asset (the biggest drawcard for inbound tourism), an environmental indicator, and iconic of Australia’s unique wildlife, it continues to astound me how little we know about it. The importance... More
Support
Alex Harris - Monday, July 23, 2012
The long-time regular members of KoalaTracker are aware of the time I have dedicated to this project. What few realise is that the direct cost to me in creating this national koala mapping portal now exceeds more than $200,000, inclusive of real out-of-pocket expenditure and time volunteered, sometimes at the... More
Citizen Science
Alex Harris - Thursday, July 19, 2012
The federal government’s Atlas of Living Australia has more than 27,000 koala sighting reports, but with only 64 since the start of 2010, the Atlas, as it pertains to koalas, is an historic rather than living record. This is in stark contrast to the data captured by our crowdsourced KoalaTracker... More
How to find koalas in the wild
Alex Harris - Thursday, July 05, 2012
The Queensland state governments assess koala habitat on the colour of pixels in a satellite map, and base infrastructure and development decisions upon that. Already, Koalatracker.com.au has proved that habitat value, as determined by this means, has little relationship with where koalas are living today. Ideally, the quality of koala... More
Going, going, gone...
Alex Harris - Friday, June 08, 2012
It is five weeks since the koala was listed as vulnerable in Queensland, NSW and ACT. In that five week period, more than 400 reports were added to KoalaTracker.com.au, many of those are deaths and injuries dating back several months. Vulnerable doesn’t come close to describing the situation for the... More
A big day for koalas
Alex Harris - Monday, April 30, 2012
It's a big day for koalas, because finally we have a decision. A decision that will compound local government and infrastructure planning challenges and radically alter property development in Queensland in particular, but a decision that will nevertheless provide a last chance for our dwindling koala population. Koalas in NSW,... More
An extraordinary situation
Alex Harris - Thursday, April 12, 2012
Updated April 18: At the request of members, this site has a new name, a new map, and in just five days...200 new members. Last week seems such a long time ago... April 11th: On awaking this morning I found the domain name, koaladiaries.com.au had been removed from this site.... More
Koala orphans - Guest Post by Anika Lehmann, Moreton Bay Koala Rescue
Alex Harris - Friday, February 10, 2012
Here Anika kindly shares with us the stories of orphaned koala joeys she has cared for. DAVEY Davey was found in August 2009, weighing 875 grams, approx. 8 months old, abandoned by his mother. Residents said she is an old koala and has been around for many years. Davey came... More
The Problem with Disease is that it Spreads
Alex Harris - Monday, July 12, 2010
Member, Kathryn Kermode, has made a valuable contribution to Koalatracker.com.au. She has watched and documented a colony of koalas in her neighbourhood of Kyogle for some time now. Keeping track of them with the help of Koalatracker.com.au brings insight to the health of koalas on a regional basis, rather than... More
People v Powerlink
Alex Harris - Saturday, April 10, 2010
Does the Powerlines Action Group Eumundi (PAGE) really have a case against Powerlink, the government corporation responsible for the construction and maintenance of high voltage transmission lines? There is no question the quality of power supply to the northern end of the Sunshine Coast and hinterland is sub-standard and on... More
Why Bother? Australian wildlife are simply pests
Alex Harris - Friday, March 26, 2010
Each day it seems, I find it harder to claim to be a proud Australian. We are a nation of rorters, scamming the government - our fellow tax-payers - of millions of dollars of funding for an initiative to provide jobs and reduce energy consumption as the country faced a... More |
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