by Carla Caruso

Have you seen any koalas in your Adelaide Park Lands?

You need to keep a sharp eye, and look up!

Recently, we spoke to Adelaide biologist and natural history author Dr Danielle Clode about her new book, Koala: A Life in Trees (Black Inc).

She had a lot to say about the animals - and about why we should be expanding the Park Lands for the sake of such wildlife (and for people), rather than shrinking Park Lands, as currently proposed by the State Government.

Hi, Dr Clode. Please tell us how you came to write a book about koalas. And what sorts of interesting places did your research take you to?

Adelaide is really unusual in having such a lot of koalas, living nearby, in such high densities. I live in the Adelaide Hills and koalas are seen – and heard – a lot.

So, I was really puzzled as to why they are so abundant here, when they seem to be going extinct on the east coast [of Australia].

But the Kangaroo Island bushfire, and the ones in the Hills in the last few years, also made me realise that even these strong populations were rapidly put at risk by natural disasters and climate change.

Writing the book during COVID restricted my research locations a lot, but it also created some unexpected trips, like going caving on Yorke Peninsula in search of giant koala fossils and visiting Coober Pedy and lakes area where vast swampy forests were once home to ancient koalas. 

What were you most surprised to learn about the marsupials?

People often think marsupials are primitive and a bit dumb, and this is particularly true of koalas. It used to be thought that their brains were so small that they rattled around loose in their skulls.

That probably came from looking at pickled specimens where the brain shrinks. New research shows that marsupial brain sizes are much the same as those for other mammals and more or less related to body size, apart from a couple of outliers like primates and [aquatic] cetaceans, which have unusually large brains.

Koalas also have a completely average-sized brain for their size and it does fill their skull normally. Just because they spend a lot of time asleep and often don’t like to be rushed doesn’t mean they are particularly dumb, though.

What’s even more amazing about koalas, though, is their stomachs. That’s the real secret to their success!

Why are we spotting more koalas in the city? Or does it just feel that way? 

Koalas are definitely moving into the city and suburbs. Koalas went extinct in South Australia – except for the south-east – thousands of years ago. But they were reintroduced when Europeans brought some across from the east coast.

A small population was established on Kangaroo Island in the 1930s, as a refuge, when people were afraid they were going extinct.

Some of those animals were then transferred to the Adelaide Hills – joining a few local escapees from captivity – and the population in both places has been rapidly expanding ever since.

In the last 20 years, koalas have moved into lots of areas they weren’t found before and they have followed the vegetation along creek lines and parks from the hills down into the suburbs.

They are seen more often here because the trees are more spaced out and because there are more people to see them.

If people encounter a lone koala in the suburbs or the city, is there anything that they should do, or look for, to help them?

If you see a koala up a gum tree, or moving in a safe area between gum trees, it’s best to leave it alone.

Koalas typically move between trees regularly, so if you see one in the same spot for several days, it may be in trouble.

If a koala is sitting on the ground, seeking water, or in a place where it is in danger from dogs or cars, it may need help and you should call your local wildlife or koala rescue service so that they can come and assess the situation.

Koalas have very sharp claws and can become stressed if cornered, so it’s best not to approach them too closely or pick them up. You can provide a bowl of water – not a drink bottle – or encourage them to move to a safer location by moving slowly and calmly towards them from behind.

But, generally, they will be happier if you keep your distance. And remember that dogs are major koala predators, so don’t allow any dog near a koala – for the dog’s safety, as well as for the koala’s.

Why do koalas face an uncertain future?

Koalas are entirely dependent on the eucalypt forests they feed on and each koala needs a VERY large area of forest – the size of at least one sportsfield each.

Australia has lost 40 per cent of our native forests, and deforestation and degradation is continuing in Queensland and New South Wales, mostly for agriculture and forestry.

As a result, koalas are declining rapidly in these two states. After nearly going extinct in Victoria and South Australia, koalas have recovered well and are quite abundant, but these high populations are trapped in relatively small pockets of highly fragmented forests.

That puts them at risk of overbrowsing their forests and dying of starvation, and from bushfires, such as the one on Kangaroo Island, which wiped out an estimated 40,000 koalas – more than the entire population thought to remain in NSW and Queensland.

So, unless we can slow the rate of climate change and protect and expand our native forests, koalas do have an uncertain future – as do a great many other Australian native wildlife species, which are at much greater immediate risk than koalas. 

Do you have a favourite park in the Adelaide Park Lands? And why is it so?

I’d be hard-pressed to pick a favourite out of the Adelaide Park Lands because they are all so important to what makes Adelaide such a remarkable and beautiful city.

Years ago, I used to ride to work from Prospect to the Adelaide Zoo [in Park 11], through the parks along Lefevre Terrace [Park 6], and it was such a lovely ride.

I love the mix of parks we have around our city – not just the beautifully maintained and ornamental Botanic Garden [in Park 11], but also the wilder and unkempt ones.

People often forget how important these areas are, particularly along waterways and rivers. Just because they look neglected and scruffy doesn’t mean they aren’t important for wildlife.

We’ve really got to work hard to make sure we are not just protecting our Park Lands from development but constantly expanding the area allocated to Park Lands and returning areas to vegetation, particularly trees – both for our own human environment, as well as that for wildlife.  

And we really need to protect our trees both in Park Lands and non-parkland areas as these are the stepping stones that link up fragmented areas for a lot of wildlife, as well as keeping our suburbs cool, clean and liveable.

What made you swap from zookeeping to writing?

I’m not really sure what made me switch from zookeeping to writing – sometimes I think I should have kept working in zoos! It would certainly have kept me fit.

But writing was a great job to do while I had small children and allowed me to work from home, doing editing, research consulting, and writing books, while my daughters were at kindergarten and school.

I’ve always been passionate about science communication too and exploring all the amazing and little-known stories about Australian nature. I’ve learnt so much from being a writer.