Victoria “has an overabundance of Koalas” according to the State and Federal Governments. Really? Koala management in Victoria has been confounded and let down by this notion for years and years, perhaps ever since the figure of 180,000 Koalas in the Strathbogie Ranges was first suggested in 1995. The “Otway Ranges” Koala population has finally been acknowledged by Governments to only refer to the Koalas in a few hundred hectares at Cape Otway. About 1000 of these Koalas have been culled and they should never have been put there in the first place. 

The Strzelecki Ranges in south Gippsland are home to the only genetically strong Koalas in Victoria, and these Koalas were devastated by the 2009 bushfires in the area. How can this population recover when it also has to cope with logging disturbance? There are serious plans afoot to translocate some of these Koalas to New South Wales. Is this wise when there are barely enough Koalas to sustain this unique population in their original location?

In other areas Koalas have disappeared over the last 15 years, especially in central and northern Victoria. Ballarat has a Koala ESO planning overlay but this has only delayed the effects of development. There is no monitoring to test whether the ESO actually works to conserve or increase Koala numbers.