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Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)

A tree-dwelling marsupial of eastern Australian eucalypt forests and woodlands. The combined Queensland, New South Wales and ACT populations are listed as Endangered, and in Queensland the clearing of koala habitat trees carries specific legal obligations for staging, habitat links and a koala spotter on site.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Endangered. Combined populations of Qld, NSW and the ACT, listed 12 February 2022. Victorian and South Australian populations are not listed.

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Endangered.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Endangered.

Breeding season

When koalas are mating, carrying young and dispersing across a typical Queensland year. Plan clearing and fencing work around the shaded risk window.

Timing shifts with latitude and seasonal conditions. Pouch and back-young months are estimated from birth timing and development stages.

  • Mating and male bellowing: September to February, calling strongest September to December
  • Births: Usually November to February; in the north most fall December to March
  • Joeys in the pouch: About 6 months of pouch life after birth
  • Young on the back: Riding on or close to the mother until weaned at about 12 months
  • Dispersal and ground movement: Mostly July to December, when road deaths peak
  • Highest clearing risk: August to January: allow extra time and spotter effort

Identification

A medium-sized, stocky marsupial with a large round head, big furred ears, a broad dark nose and sharp recurved claws. Fur is predominantly grey, with white on the chest, inner arms, ears and rump. Two opposable digits on each fore paw give a strong grip on smooth-barked trunks.

Koalas change gradually from south to north. Queensland animals are smaller, lighter in colour and shorter furred than those in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. An average Victorian male is around 12 kg, compared with about 6.5 kg in Queensland.

Identification: Telling males and females apart

  • Adult males are noticeably larger, up to 50% heavier than females, with a broader face, a larger nose and a brown-stained scent gland in the centre of the chest.
  • Adult females have a relatively clean white chest and a backward-facing pouch.
  • Males bellow loudly during the breeding season to advertise their presence. Females call far less often.

Identification: Field signs

  • Scats: oblong pellets, light greenish-grey when broken, with a strong eucalypt smell. Found at the base of used trees and the basis of SAT and detection-dog surveys.
  • Scratches: paired claw marks and pock marks on the trunks of smooth and rough-barked trees that koalas climb.
  • Calls: deep, rasping male bellows at night, most frequent through spring and early summer.
  • Eye shine: bright reflectance under a spotlight, with slow and deliberate movement.

Distribution

Koalas are endemic to eastern and south-eastern Australia. The range is wide but patchy, split into subpopulations by cleared land and unsuitable country.

The national range runs from the base of Cape York, around the Herberton area, south through Queensland and New South Wales into Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. Translocated populations are established on Kangaroo Island, in the Adelaide Hills, on the Eyre Peninsula and on several islands in Victoria and Queensland, including Magnetic, St Bees and Brampton islands.

In Queensland koalas are widespread but mostly at low density. Records extend from the Wet Tropics and Einasleigh Uplands through the Desert Uplands, Mitchell Grass Downs, Mulga Lands, Brigalow Belt and Central Mackay Coast to South East Queensland, which holds the state's greatest concentration of animals. Inland, koalas are strongly tied to creek lines, higher tree-species richness and trees with higher leaf moisture.

Distribution: Population and trend

Listed population (2021): About 86,900 to 92,200 mature individuals

Queensland (2012 expert estimate): 79,264 across eight bioregions

Queensland decline: About 53% over three koala generations

Forecast listed population (2032): About 63,500

Extent of occurrence: 1,665,850 km²

Distribution: How the distribution map is built

Each dot covers roughly 35 km. Queensland dots follow the koala districts mapped under the Koala Conservation Plan, which divide the parts of the state where koalas are known to occur. Dots in other states are painted where Atlas of Living Australia records from 1995 onwards show repeated occurrence, with isolated single records removed. It is a range guide, not a substitute for a site-level desktop search and field survey.

Habitat

Koala habitat is the whole set of places a koala needs to feed, shelter, breed and move. It is not only the trees. The ground between trees is part of the habitat, because koalas travel between trees and patches on foot.

Koalas occupy temperate, subtropical and tropical eucalypt forests and woodlands, riparian woodland and semi-arid communities along watercourses. Densities are highest where food trees grow on fertile, moister soils and along creeks and rivers. They persist in partly cleared, agricultural and low-density urban landscapes where enough trees remain.

Commonwealth guidance treats habitat as including remnant and non-remnant vegetation, roadside and rail corridors, paddock trees, vegetated corridors and the safe ground between them. Unoccupied habitat still counts unless recolonisation is highly unlikely, and occupancy should be assumed where habitat is present or the area is likely to be used for movement.

Habitat: Queensland legal definition

Under the Koala Conservation Plan, koala habitat means an area of vegetation where koalas live that includes a koala habitat tree, an area consisting primarily of koala habitat trees that is reasonably suitable for sustaining koalas, or a partly or fully cleared area koalas use to cross between those areas.

A koala habitat tree is a tree of the Blakella, Corymbia, Eucalyptus, Lophostemon or Melaleuca genera that koalas can eat, or a tree typically used for shelter, such as Angophora.

Foraging habitat

Koalas are specialist folivores. More than 400 tree species have been recorded in their diet, yet at any one location as few as two species may carry most of the feeding. Preference depends on leaf chemistry, water content and nutrition, and it varies between regions, seasons and individual animals. Foraging habitat is therefore forest or woodland with a higher proportion of locally preferred feed species.

An adult eats about 400 to 500 g of leaves a day and gets most of its water from foliage. Koalas do drink from free water and artificial water stations in hot, dry periods, and leaf moisture is a key driver of habitat quality in inland Queensland.

Foraging habitat: Commonly used feed trees in South East Queensland

  • Forest red gum or Queensland blue gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis), a primary species on alluvial flats and fertile slopes
  • Tallowwood (E. microcorys), on fertile, well-drained slopes and gullies
  • Grey gums (E. propinqua, E. major, E. punctata, E. longirostrata)
  • Swamp mahogany (E. robusta), on coastal lowland swamps
  • Scribbly gum (E. racemosa), on deep coastal sands
  • Secondary species such as narrow-leaved ironbark (E. crebra), spotted gum (Corymbia citriodora subsp. variegata), gum-topped box (E. moluccana), pink bloodwood (C. intermedia) and brush box (Lophostemon confertus)

Foraging habitat: Central and western Queensland

In drier country, feeding concentrates on riparian and floodplain eucalypts along creek lines and rivers, and on woodland species of the Brigalow Belt. Always confirm the preferred species for the site from the regional ecosystem descriptions, local studies and what the scat and scratch evidence on site actually shows.

Breeding habitat

Koalas do not use dens, nests or hollows. Breeding habitat is the network of overlapping home ranges, food trees and connecting ground that lets males find females and lets young disperse. A dominant male's home range overlaps several females and subordinate males during the mating season. Stable, high-quality feed matters because females in poor condition or with disease such as Chlamydia may not breed at all.

Breeding habitat needs to be large and connected enough for dispersal. Subadults, particularly young males, typically move 1 to 3 km or more to set up their own range, and loss of these dispersers disrupts gene flow.

Breeding habitat: Breeding cycle

Mating season: Generally September to February; males begin calling in spring

Births: Usually November to February; in the north about 60% fall in December to March

Gestation: About 35 days; one joey

Pouch life: About 6 months

Back young: Rides on the mother for a further 6 to 12 months

Independence: Weaned at about 12 months; disperses between 2 and 3 years

First breeding: Females about 2 years; males 3 to 4 years

Dispersal season: Mostly July to December, when road deaths peak

Breeding habitat: Why timing matters on site

From late winter to early summer koalas move further and spend more time on the ground, and many females carry pouch or back young. Clearing, fencing and traffic management across this period carry the highest risk of injury, stranding and separation of mothers and young.

Sheltering habitat

Koalas spend most of the day wedged in a tree fork, and they choose shelter trees separately from feed trees. Shelter trees are often dense-crowned species such as Angophora, Melaleuca, Lophostemon and rainforest or riparian trees that give shade and cooler bark. Using these trees on hot days is a normal behaviour and not a sign that the animal is unwell.

Climate refuges are an essential part of koala habitat. Drainage lines, riparian zones, deep gullies and dense vegetation stay cooler and keep leaf moisture higher during heatwaves, drought and bushfire. Koalas can stop feeding and starve under extreme heat stress, so loss of these refuges has an outsized effect.

Sheltering habitat: Features to record in habitat assessment

  • Large, dense-crowned shelter trees and trees with overlapping crowns
  • Riparian and gully vegetation that can act as heat refuge
  • Surface water, dams and troughs used in dry periods
  • Tree cover and ground connectivity to neighbouring habitat
  • Hazards on the ground route: roads, dogs, pools, unclimbable fences

Threats

  • Habitat clearing and fragmentation for grazing, agriculture, urban growth, mining and energy projects. More than 10,000 km² of forest and woodland within the range was cleared between 2000 and 2017.
  • Vehicle strike. South East Queensland averaged 395 koala and vehicle collisions a year between 1997 and 2011, and about 83% of struck animals do not survive.
  • Dog attack, especially in peri-urban areas.
  • Disease, particularly Chlamydia pecorum and koala retrovirus. Chlamydia causes infertility, blindness and death and rises with stress.
  • Drought, heatwaves and more severe bushfire. Queensland may lose 79% of climatically suitable habitat by 2070.

Queensland koala mapping and clearing law: Koala districts

Queensland regulates koala habitat through the Nature Conservation (Koala) Conservation Plan 2017 and the Planning Regulation 2017. These clearing requirements apply regardless of any approval or exemption under other legislation.

District A: South East Queensland region: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Moreton Bay, Noosa, Redland, Scenic Rim, Somerset, Sunshine Coast and part of Toowoomba. Highest densities and highest threat.

District B: Bundaberg, Cherbourg, Fraser Coast, Gympie and parts of Gladstone, North Burnett, South Burnett and Toowoomba. Density generally under 0.2 koalas per hectare.

District C: The rest of the state where koalas occur, from the Southern Downs and Western Downs to Mackay, Townsville, the Tablelands and the central west.

Queensland koala mapping and clearing law: Mapped habitat categories in SEQ

  • Core koala habitat area: the best-quality habitat, modelled from climate, food and shelter vegetation and two decades of koala sightings.
  • Locally refined koala habitat area: mature vegetation that may fall outside the core criteria but holds locally important koala habitat.
  • Koala priority area: large connected areas with the best chance of sustaining SEQ koalas. Clearing core or locally refined habitat inside a priority area is prohibited, subject to limited exemptions.
  • Koala habitat restoration area: cleared or degraded land with low constraints and high potential to be restored as koala habitat.

Queensland koala mapping and clearing law: Two rules every clearing crew must follow

  • Sequential clearing (districts A and B): koalas must have time to leave without human intervention. Sites over 3 ha must be cleared in stages, no more than 50% per stage for sites of 6 ha or less, or no more than 3 ha or 3% (whichever is greater) for larger sites, with at least one 12-hour break from 6 pm to 6 am between stages. Habitat links must be kept within and out of the site. A tree with a koala in it, or any tree whose crown overlaps it, must not be cleared.
  • Koala spotter (koala habitat areas): clearing koala habitat trees with a trunk over 10 cm in diameter at 1.3 m above the ground must happen in the presence of a koala spotter whose primary role is locating koalas in trees.

Queensland koala mapping and clearing law: Checking a site

Order a free Vegetation Management Report for the lot to confirm the koala district and any koala habitat area, or view the Koala plan layers in Queensland Globe. The map on this page is drawn from the same state layers but is generalised to about 1.5 km dots, so treat it as a guide and use the property report for decisions.

Survey methodology: 1. Desktop assessment

Koalas are cryptic and often at low density, so a single method regularly misses them. Pair an indirect scat method with a direct method, repeat surveys, and record the conditions so the result stands up in a referral or a clearing report.

  • EPBC Protected Matters Search Tool for listed koala habitat and records.
  • Queensland WildNet and Atlas of Living Australia records for the site and surrounding landscape.
  • Vegetation Management Report and Queensland Globe for koala district, koala habitat area, priority area and restoration area.
  • Regional ecosystem and high-value regrowth mapping to predict feed and shelter tree composition.
  • Aerial imagery to plan connectivity, water, roads and likely movement routes.

Survey methodology: 2. Habitat assessment

  • Validate mapped vegetation on the ground; mapping misses site history, disturbance and microhabitat.
  • Map every koala habitat tree in the footprint and record species, height and trunk diameter at 1.3 m (circumference divided by 3.1416). Flag trees over 10 cm diameter in koala habitat areas and non-juvenile trees (over 4 m tall or over 31.5 cm circumference at 1.3 m).
  • Record shelter trees, overlapping crowns, water, refuge gullies and connectivity to neighbouring habitat.
  • Record positions with GPS accuracy of 10 m or better.

Survey methodology: 3. Spot Assessment Technique (SAT)

An indirect, daylight method that searches for scats under trees. At each site, the tree nearest the grid point and the 29 nearest trees (at least 10 cm diameter) are each searched within 1 m of the base for at least 2 person-minutes, stopping once a scat is found. The NSW survey guide places sites on a 150 m grid for habitat of 50 ha or less and a 250 m grid above that, with at least three sites for patches of 5 ha or less.

  • Do not survey within 3 days of rain.
  • Less reliable in dense ground cover and low-quality habitat, where detection dogs are preferred.
  • Activity levels can be compared against regional benchmarks to rank habitat use.

Survey methodology: 4. Scat detection dogs

A trained dog and handler walk 200 m transects, three per 5 ha of habitat and at least 100 m apart, in both directions at about 10 m a minute, with the dog working 25 m either side. Teams need prior koala experience and a competency assessment within the previous 12 months.

  • Daylight, all year; not within 3 days of rain, in high heat, baited areas or very dense regrowth.
  • Provide rest, shade and water for the dog throughout.

Survey methodology: 5. Spotlighting

A direct night survey on foot at about 10 m a minute along 200 m transects, two per 5 ha and at least 100 m apart, repeated on a second night. Use a 750 to 1,100 lumen hand-held light (below 1,500 lumens), confirm eye shine with binoculars, and dim or switch to red light during long observations.

  • Avoid rain, high wind and extreme temperatures.
  • Poor detection in tall forest, dense canopy, steep slopes and deep gullies.

Survey methodology: 6. Thermal drone survey

Real-time thermal imaging from a drone often outperforms spotlighting and SAT for direct detection. Fly between 21:00 and dawn on nights when the previous day's minimum was 18 °C or below, 30 to 40 m above the canopy with at least 30% side overlap and a maximum of 8 m/s. Use a radiometric longwave sensor of at least 640 × 512 pixels.

  • Validate every heat signature by spotlight, colour camera or a ground search within about 80 m at first light. Possums, flying-foxes, birds, hollows and warm rock give false positives.
  • If nothing validates on the first night, fly a second night before recording absence.
  • Save screenshots with GPS location, video timecode and capture time for the report.

Survey methodology: 7. Passive acoustic monitoring

Recorders capture male bellows from sunset to sunrise, so this method only works in the breeding season, from about September to December. Deploy units 1.5 to 1.8 m above ground, spaced at twice their detection range, for 7 to 12 nights depending on habitat area. Results are biased towards males and must be verified by a bioacoustics specialist.

Survey methodology: 8. Pre-clearance and daily spotting

Immediately before and during clearing, a koala spotter systematically searches every koala habitat tree to be felled and its neighbours, from the ground with binoculars and, where canopy is dense or high, with a thermal camera or drone at first light. Every tree holding a koala, and every tree whose crown touches it, is marked and protected with an exclusion zone.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use at least two methods: one scat method (SAT or dogs) and one direct method (spotlighting, drone or acoustic).
  • Apply effort separately to each discontinuous patch of habitat.
  • Record rainfall in the 72 hours before, and rainfall, temperature range, humidity and wind for each survey period.
  • Record age, sex, joey status, condition and the tree species for every koala seen.
  • Submit records to WildNet or QWildlife, and include them in the EVNT occurrence report for the project.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise

Most koala outcomes are decided in planning, not on clearing day.

  • Avoid koala habitat where possible, particularly high-quality habitat and habitat in landscapes that are already heavily cleared.
  • Shrink the footprint: place infrastructure on cleared land, reduce laydown and access areas, and keep riparian and refuge vegetation intact.
  • Retain connectivity: design corridors at least 100 m wide where you can, keep paddock and roadside trees, and avoid creating new barriers.
  • Check whether the action needs EPBC referral and whether the site sits in a koala priority area, where clearing core or locally refined habitat is prohibited.

Before habitat disturbance: Plan the clearing

  • Prepare a koala management plan (or a koala section in the fauna management plan) covering the survey results, clearing sequence, spotter roles, stop-work triggers, rescue contacts and reporting.
  • Design the sequential clearing stages and direction so every stage leaves a habitat link towards retained vegetation, and schedule the mandatory 6 pm to 6 am break between stages.
  • Where possible, avoid the peak breeding and dispersal period from August to January, or allow extra time and spotter effort across it.
  • Confirm which trees are koala habitat trees and measure trunk diameter at 1.3 m. Tag and map trees over 10 cm diameter in koala habitat areas.
  • Engage a koala spotter with demonstrated experience locating koalas or conducting arboreal fauna surveys, and confirm their authority to stop work.

Before habitat disturbance: Prepare the site

  • Run a pre-clearance survey in the days before works, then a spotter search at first light on each clearing day.
  • Induct operators on koala signs, exclusion zones, stop-work calls and the rule that koalas are never chased, shaken or felled out of trees.
  • Brief everyone on the rescue pathway: 1300 ANIMAL (1300 264 625) and the nearest SEQ Wildlife Hospital or wildlife vet.
  • Set up dog bans, low speed limits on haul and access roads, and controls on night-time lighting.
  • Where fencing is proposed, install koala-appropriate fencing only together with crossing points so animals are funnelled, not trapped.

During habitat disturbance: On every clearing day

  • The koala spotter searches the day's stage and its edge trees before machinery starts, and is present for all clearing of koala habitat trees over 10 cm diameter in koala habitat areas.
  • Never clear a tree with a koala in it, or any tree whose crown overlaps it. Mark the tree and set a buffer so the koala can leave on its own.
  • Clear in the planned direction, towards retained habitat, and keep the habitat links open throughout.
  • Stop tree clearing across the full 12-hour 6 pm to 6 am window between stages. Recheck retained and edge trees at first light before the next stage.
  • Fell trees away from retained habitat, and inspect felled crowns and hollow sections before mulching or stockpiling.

During habitat disturbance: If a koala is found

  • Stop work within the exclusion zone and keep people, machinery and dogs away. Do not attempt to move a healthy koala; it must leave the site without human intervention.
  • If the koala is on the ground and at immediate risk, keep the area quiet and allow it to walk to retained habitat. Remove the hazard rather than the animal wherever that is safe.
  • If a koala is sick, injured, orphaned or trapped, call 1300 ANIMAL and hand it to an authorised rehabilitator. Only suitably trained, authorised people rescue koalas.
  • Keep a mother and her young together. If a female has an elongated teat, search the area for a pouch young.
  • Record the tree species, location, time, behaviour, condition and outcome, and notify the project environmental lead the same day.

During habitat disturbance: Ongoing site controls

  • Maintain exclusion zones, dog bans and site speed limits for the life of the works.
  • Check excavations, trenches, sediment basins and drying waterbodies each morning for trapped animals.
  • Follow weed hygiene and washdown protocols so lantana and other weeds do not choke retained habitat and crossings.
  • Stop and reassess if more koalas than expected are present, or if a koala is repeatedly returning to the same trees.

After habitat disturbance

  • Complete a post-clearance inspection of the cleared area, retained edges, stockpiles and fences, and record any koala found in the days after clearing.
  • Issue the clearing report: spotter hours, stages and breaks, koalas located and outcomes, trees retained, and any incidents, with maps and photos.
  • Lodge EVNT occurrence records for every koala observation and submit sightings to WildNet or QWildlife.
  • Inspect koala fencing at least yearly, before each breeding season, whenever a koala is found inside a fenced area and for 1 km either side of any road death. Repair defects within 4 weeks.
  • Keep vegetation 2 to 3 m back from fences on the habitat side so trees do not form a bridge over them.
  • Monitor underpasses and crossings with cameras, keep entrances clear of weeds, and adapt controls where koalas are being struck or stranded.
  • Deliver any offset required by the approval. The Queensland offsets information sheet describes three new koala habitat trees for each non-juvenile koala habitat tree removed in SEQ; confirm the current policy version for your approval.

Rehabilitation actions: Injured and orphaned koalas

  • Every rescued koala goes to a vet as soon as practicable. In SEQ that means an SEQ Wildlife Hospital, and advice from the SEQ Wildlife Hospital Network takes precedence.
  • Contain the koala in a top-opening transport crate with a solid base, covered for airflow, held around 20 to 25 °C for adults. Never transport a koala in a hessian sack, an open ute tray, a car boot or with dogs in the vehicle.
  • Stop capture if the koala shows excessive stress (prolonged crying or panting, breathing well above 10 to 15 breaths a minute, continuous ear flicking) and wait at least 10 minutes.
  • Record the exact rescue location. Rehabilitated koalas must be released as close as practicable to where they were found, and at the rescue site itself if it is still suitable. The Queensland code caps release at 10 km for adults and 20 km for orphans.
  • Tell the rehabilitator if the rescue site is about to be cleared so they can plan an alternative release site that is safe from imminent clearing.

Rehabilitation actions: Habitat rehabilitation

  • Prioritise planting that expands existing koala habitat, reconnects patches, or rebuilds corridors along watercourses. Round or square blocks resist weeds better than thin strips.
  • Use the pre-clearing regional ecosystem as the template, with a mix of locally preferred primary feed trees, secondary feed and shelter trees, and an understorey of shrubs and groundcovers.
  • Plant trees close, up to about 1,000 stems per hectare (around 3 m apart), then thin weaker plants over time and keep trees koalas are already using.
  • Plant after soaking rain and avoid frost and flood seasons; February to April suits much of South East Queensland.
  • Keep a weed-free circle at least 1 m wide around each plant, widening to 2 to 3 m, until most trees are over 3 m tall. Mulch and water deeply rather than often.
  • Use wildlife-friendly fencing to exclude stock: plain top and bottom wires, a 50 cm ground gap and 30 cm between strands.
  • Install refuge poles at least 3 m tall with a fork or cross-arm where mature trees are scarce, such as at culvert approaches, and plant beside them so trees eventually take over.
  • Monitor with fixed photo points, replace losses in the first year and record species survival. Koalas have been seen feeding in plantings as young as three years.

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