Experts have warned Blue Mountains motorists to slow down on Hawkesbury Road and keep any dogs secured at night following a series of koala sightings at Winmalee.
The Winmalee sightings have all been close to the busy Hawkesbury Road as well as people’s backyards.
Science for Wildlife’s executive director, Dr Kellie Leigh, said it is good news that koala populations appear to be growing, but it’s up to the community to help protect them.
She said locals can help by slowing down and keeping a look out for koalas crossing on Hawkesbury Road at Winmalee, then down into the Hawkesbury, and also towards Bilpin on Bells Line of Road.
Science for Wildlife has been running the Blue Mountains Koala Project for four years and is mapping koalas and their habitats in the region to identify threats and help conserve them.
“Koalas like areas with good soils like people do. If you look at a map of the Mountains and also up north along Bells Line of Road then you can pretty much pick out the patches of good soils by wherever the roads and development are located,” said Dr Leigh.
“These places can be magnets for koalas coming out of the protected areas, as the most nutritious trees grow there. They will happily cross roads, backyards and paddocks to get to those trees, where they are at risk from vehicle collisions and domestic dog attacks.”
Little is known about the koalas in the region, and they aren’t the only species that we need more information on.
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Blue Mountains City Council, with support from Greater Sydney Local Land Services is running a city–wide citizen science fauna survey, collecting community sighting records on all native animals, great and small from across the Blue Mountains.
Community sightings help to gain a better understanding of what animals live where, which helps inform wildlife management.
Based on the number of reports so far, the koala sightings are likely to continue, said Dr Leigh.
“Koala mating season starts around September each year and goes until the end of summer. Particularly in these first few months koalas are moving around a lot more to find each other to mate, and the joeys from last year are dispersing. It’s the time of year you can also hear the males bellowing.”
Vickii Lett from WIRES said: “Maintaining koala habitats is the key, if we replant their food trees and reconnect what is left of these forests then we'll keep our koalas. Also, if you have dogs please keep them under control and in particular make sure they are secured at night, when koalas are most likely to be on the ground moving between trees.”
Please report any koala sightings to Science for Wildlife at: http://scienceforwildlife.org/howto-help/join-our-koala-project/
For information on the fauna survey: https://www.bluemountainshaveyoursay.com.au/faunaproject.