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As far as the weather was concerned we couldn’t have asked for a better day for our annual Koala Count. It was fine and sunny, with perfect conditions for a walk in the forest.

group photo

Seventeen adults arrived to take part in the survey We were very pleased to have six young children – Hugh, Ollie, Olive, Arlo, Augie and Manu join us. We also welcomed Katie Rau, and Sophie Woods, two teenagers who were invaluable in spotting the koalas.

We stopped at Kennet River Reserve for morning tea before heading up Grey River Road to start the survey.

morning tea

Enjoying morning tea in the sunshine at Kennet River Reserve

Once we had parked the cars we started the survey and were delighted to find two koalas quite close to the cars.

koala hiding

sleepy

Koalas hiding in the dense vegetation high up in the trees

Keen eyes were quick to find the koalas sometimes in trees beside the road and at other times way down into the gully.

Katie, Sophie, Jon and Ellen spotted one in the trees along the firebreak

And just sometimes they came down low to make photographing easy

We had a great view of a Wedge-tailed Eagle that circled over our heads as we walked up Grey River Road.

eagle overhead

Pete was quick with the camera

The total number of koalas recorded for this year was 41. Its interesting to observe how the numbers have declined over the last three years compared with the highest number of 144 individuals in 2008. Its possible that the health of the trees may be reflected in the fewer numbers of browsing koalas, or that in fact the lower numbers may be more sustainable.

Thanks to everyone who participated in a very enjoyable day’s activity. A question was asked during the walk, what is the collective term for koalas? The answer is: a Colony of Koalas.

Report by Kaye Traynor
Photographs by Pete Crowcroft