On Tuesday, just as Spring had sprung, and with it a refreshing burst of sunshine, I was fortunate enough to spend the day at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, with wildlife officers who had some real koalafications (pardon the pun).

Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, south of Canberra’s city centre, is home to a range of native Australian wildlife, who are well looked after by the Tidbinbilla team.

I got to experience the ins and outs of what wildlife officers at this reserve do, from feeding potoroos, snakes and Corroboree frogs, to cleaning the enclosures of Southern Brush-Tailed Wallabies and Eastern Bettongs. The highlight of my day, however, were the koalas.

Tidbinbilla is home to many cute koalas, including Malu, Jed and Yellow, who reside in the koala breeding enclosure. They are a part of the wildlife management and protection program here.

One of the koalas in the koala breeding enclosure

Just before lunchtime, I joined one of the wildlife officers in her rounds of the Koala enclosure, situated in the Eucalypt Forest. We started by collecting branches of fresh Eucalyptus trees, ensuring that they were of the highest quality (because as it turns out, koalas are quite fussy eaters). Upon arrival at the enclosure, we replaced the old branches with our new ones, spraying them with water to keep them fresh. After this, we cleaned the mess that the koalas had made, leaving their home in a spick-and-span condition.

We then joined with the rest of the team to stock-up on brush and branches for the animals for the rest of the week. We loaded these into the truck, then took them to storage for later use, knowing that the koalas would enjoy it.

Food stock we loaded onto the truck

Sadly, however, not all koalas are fortunate enough to have a constant supply of fresh, healthy Eucalyptus leaves. Despite being one of Australia’s most iconic animals, koalas are in danger. Whilst not being listed as endangered, they are listed as vulnerable in the ACT. This is due to extensive habitat loss.

Habitat loss is a key threat to koalas

Since European settlement around 80% of Australia’s Eucalyptus forest has been removed. This has placed increasing pressure upon koala populations. Their demographic structure has been altered due to displacement, as they need to find new home ranges, and this often leads to the death of a population.

Koalas are hence ending up in isolated, small, fragmented land patches, far away from other populations. The combination of these pressures also increase their risk of stress-induced disease, dog attacks and car accidents.

Another significant issue is tree dieback. Land degradation and habitat loss is causing the species of trees that koalas eat from to gradually die, as their forests become too patchy and isolated.

Tidbinbilla’s koala enclosure allows for a population of koalas to safely persist, free from the threats experienced by wild koalas. Koalas are bred here, with the babies being released into a larger 17 hectare forest after around 12 months. This mimics the wild environment whereby koalas leave their mothers to make short journeys to find their own home range, and learn to forage for themselves. I got to see one baby koala in the enclosure, who will be released into the forest in two weeks.

Jed snuggled in his enclosure

As I headed home from this day of work experience, watching the sun set and Tidbinbilla slowly disappear behind me, I realised that such conservation programs are vital in ensuring that species, like the koala, get a fighting chance of survival despite the odds against them.

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Thank you to the Tidbinbilla Wildlife Officers Hannah, Rachael and Nicole for giving me this opportunity.