Koalas face a range of threats including:

  • habitat loss and fragmentation from urban development and land clearing
  • vehicle strikes, especially in areas where roads go through koala habitat
  • disease, such as chlamydia which impacts koala fertility and health
  • dog attacks, a significant cause of injury and death
  • fire, drought and heatwaves, which destroy habitat and reduce availability of food and shelter
  • declining genetic diversity, which reduces resilience, or the ability to adapt to challenges, in a population.

Work to address these threats is funded under the NSW Koala Strategy with:

  • $9.1 million for translocation projects
  • $10.6 million to address vehicle strike hotspots
  • $3.5 million to provide wildlife care training for vets.

Re-establishing and reinforcing koala populations

Our koala translocation program involves moving wild, rehabilitated, or captive bred koalas to re-establish populations that have become locally extinct and/or to reinforce existing populations by increasing their size, health, and genetic diversity.

Find out more about our Koala translocation program.

Disease

The most significant disease that affects koalas is chlamydia. This bacterial infection can lead to blindness infertility and death. We are working to prevent the spread of the disease and providing funding for research into a vaccine to give koalas resistance.

Find out more about our work on Understanding chlamydia in koalas.

Vehicle strike

Efforts to reduce koala injury and death by vehicle strike focus on identifying and taking action at vehicle strike hotspots across the state. Actions are developed collaboratively with Transport for NSW and other stakeholders. This includes:

  • encouraging drivers to slow down by installing dynamic signs and marking road surfaces
  • installing fences and building or upgrading crossing structures to keep koalas and other native wildlife off roads, while improving connectivity
  • monitoring the number of koalas hit by cars to assess the effectiveness of these actions.

The Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan is a major biodiversity conservation plan in western Sydney designed to deliver housing in an area of high conservation value that includes critical koala habitat. To help protect the region’s koalas, the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan supports efforts to reduce vehicle strike by installing fencing and 3 dedicated wildlife crossings, 2 along Appin Road and one across a canal.

For more information, including maps that show fencing and crossings, go to the NSW Department of Planning’s Protecting koalas: Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan webpage.

Wildlife care: training and procedures

We are committed to strengthening our ability to respond to emergencies that involve koalas and other wildlife. This work involves setting up clear procedures, training, and other systems to support effective decision-making during rescue operations. 

Our support to the wildlife rehabilitation sector is helping to improve treatment and outcomes for sick and injured koalas.

This includes:

  • work with Taronga Zoo to train vets and vet nurses in wildlife care
  • supporting koala rehabilitators with ongoing professional development training
  • collaborating with the volunteer wildlife rehabilitation sector to develop better standards of care for injured, sick and orphaned koalas to give rehabilitated koalas the best chance of survival when released back into the wild.

More information on how we’re improving the safety and health of koalas can be found under Pillar 3 of the NSW Koala Strategy