Did you know that koalas still live in the Cove area?
MidCoast Council recently had a limited koala survey done in the Cove on some areas of Council owned land using a dog detection team. The detector dogs are trained to sniff out koala scat, which is a very successful survey method used extensively to identify koala presence.
The results were very encouraging with koala scat found in five different locations, on the edge of the village and in the adjacent nonurban area. Council is planning on doing further surveys to address knowledge gaps so it can get a more complete picture of koala presence / density in the area.
NAC residents occasionally see and hear koalas in the area, both in the village and in the nonurban area. Only this week a Carrington resident reported hearing two koalas near Carrington.
This photo of a koala was taken in the village about two years ago.
The results of the Council survey were very encouraging because it confirms that koalas are widespread across the NAC and Carrington area, but it's a real shame that their habitat is being gradually destroyed by land clearing and tree removal and the construction of mesh fences which impede their movement.
It is really important that we do everything possible to protect and look after this iconic species in our area - the koala is an endangered species, and if we don't look after it it could easily become extinct in our lifetime.
If you would like to know more about koala detection dogs and watch a video of one in action, click on this link - koala detection dog services
Growing up on the Promontory…
Growing up on the Promontory side as a kid we saw Koalas all the time. Whether feeding, sleeping, crawling along the ground to change trees or just making their loud pig noises at night, it was very frequent.
I have never seen one on the Cove Blvd side though, and not sure why. Would love to see more these days.