The plight of koalas was demonstrated very well this week with a koala found dangerously stranded in the main street of Murwillumbah. Others have sadly been hit and killed by cars. This is the time of year that koalas are on the move but they need homes to go to and they need wildlife corridors to connect their habitat to enable them to cross the landscape. Murwillumbah is surrounded by cane fields with no linkages for this koala to travel to safety and find food.
Friends of the Koala were able to come to her rescue and, after assessing her health, will then release her into the closest suitable habitat. But finding that habitat is the hard thing.
This week another local koala was found walking down the middle of a road surrounded by cane fields. The nearest vegetation, as is often the case, was mostly exotic or weed species.
Please consider planting koala food trees and other native trees as habitat for wildlife, particularly if you live on a rural property. The lives of our wildlife depend on it.
Watercourses make great wildlife corridors but many are just full of weed species, so protect and revegetate riparian zones with local native species and you will start to see wildlife appreciating your efforts. There is nothing more special than seeing a koala or other wildlife using a tree you have planted.
And if you see a koala, either injured, in danger, or not looking well – bad eyes, wet/dirty bottom, or on ground and not moving – call Friends of the Koala on their hotline 6622 1233, and for other wildlife call Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers’ hotline on 6672 4789. Please put these numbers in your phone as they depend on kind members of the public to notify them. Volunteers are also always needed.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
