The koala procreation season and car crashes

Speeding combustion engines are one of the major threats to unarmoured koalas. No road is ever wide enough for vehicles in the Bellingen/Gleniffer area. Road signage is regularly knocked down and speeding is the 24/7 norm.

Koalas like to meet up between June and December. This is the time when the marsupials are forced to negotiate a fragmented habitat of roads, settlements and degraded logging sites.

Switch on your 'car brain' and consider others.
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https://friendsofthekoala.org/koalas-and-cars/
#cars #roads #motorists #NSW #biodiversity #koalas #RoadTrauma #Bellingen #GlenifferRoad #RosesRoad #BellingenShire #SignageKnockedDown #enforcement #MobilityDesign

Careless drivers knocking down signage II

Cnr of #RosesRoad, John Locke Pl. Ever since the #GlenifferRoad 'upgrade'. No road is ever wide enough.
#Cars #speeding #roads #motorists #Bellingen #speeding #BellingenShire #inaction #gleniffer #koalas #RecklessDriving

Careless drivers knocking down signage I

#RosesRoad, Roses Bridge, Unnamed Creek, #Bellingen
#Cars #GlenifferRoad #upgrade #speeding

Road and dog density contribute to the extinction of koalas

Road and highway density (road length per square kilometer) and an aggregation of domestic dogs leads to the demise of the marsupial through vehicle crashes and mauling by pets.

Dissanayake, R.B., Stevenson, M., Astudillo, V.G. et al. Anthropogenic and environmental factors associated with koala deaths due to dog attacks and vehicle collisions in South-East Queensland, Australia, 2009–2013. Sci Rep 13, 14275 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-40827-w
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-40827-w

Koalas and Dogs Don’t Mix
https://cdn.environment.sa.gov.au/environment/docs/pa-fact-koalasdogsdontmix.pdf
Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Managing dog and koala/wildlife co-habitation. Why does leashing matter? Bellingen Council
https://www.bellingen.nsw.gov.au/Development/Public-health-and-safety-services-and-approvals/Ranger-Services/Animal-care-and-control

Major Roads. Australian Openstreetmap
https://eatlas.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/df464abf-59be-41cc-a271-d17035582c4c
#koalas #wildlife #Biodiversity #habitat #sprawl #cars #roads #vehicles #crashes #Roadkill #dogs #roaming #pets #DogOwnership #extinction #GlenifferRoad #RosesRoad #Bellingen #BellingenShire

Koalas

"After European colonization in 1788, more species have become extinct in Australia than in any other country on Earth (Australian Government Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment, 2022)."

In 2020, the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Koalas found that koalas will become extinct before 2050. Why?

Habitat grab, cars and dogs
"Koalas who had been attacked by a dog, fallen from a tree, and/or been hit by a motor vehicle were more likely to be euthanized or found deceased than released."
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Charalambous, R., Descovich, K. A., & Narayan, E. J. (2024). Identifying Trends in Admission and Release of Wild Koalas in Veterinary Clinics Throughout Queensland, Australia. Society & Animals (published online ahead of print 2024).
https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-bja10220
#koalas #Bellingen #Gleniffer #roads #dogs #pets #GlenifferRoad #RosesRoad #loggingIndustry #LoggingImpacts #SettlerSociety #BiodiversityCrisis #Ecocide #ExtinctionCrisis #EPBCAct

The koala is an icon for Australia

Images of politicians and tourists seen cuddling the threatened marsupial are ubiquitous. The mascot, usually placed on a stump, has to pose and represent the 'brand' Australia.

Due to habitat destruction the animals are deprived of a living habitat and have to flee. The fragmented habitat they have to negotiate is crisscrossed with roads and dangerous canines.

The verge of the roads and the gutter is the koala's new designated home. The slow arboreal animal has to face speedy cars, trucks and pet dogs. The industrial destruction of biodiversity, native forest logging, has the largest kill-score. In one case the “koala massacre” killed 40 in one 'harvesting' operation.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/03/koala-massacre-animals-reported-starving-or-dead-after-plantation-logging

In Victoria three rotting koalas were found recently beside a country road within a week.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/sad-reason-koalas-were-found-dumped-inside-cardboard-boxes-beside-country-road-061958594.html

Here in Bellingen, where Tuckers Nob public forest is being industrially logged, all images cropping up are of disoriented koalas on daytime roads. There will be nothing left to cuddle soon.

Friends of Tuckers Nob have pictures of Roadside Koalas of the area near the logging sites.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/250189120465227/

Desperate koala looking for a tree
https://www.tiktok.com/@candyandcalvin/video/7322989951233150216

#koalas #FCNSW #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #NativeForests #NSWLogging #LoggingImpacts #BellingenLogging #WildlifeCrimes #wildlife #cars #crashes #roads #RosesRoad #roadkill #biodiversity #KillingCorridor #Sydney #AppinRoad #SaveTuckersNob

#EndNativeForestLogging / #SaveTuckersNob

Fossil fuel machinery has started 'treading lightly' in Tuckers Nob public forest today in Bellingen.

Logging trucks were speeding along Roses community road today at 8.30, delivering giant fossil fuel machinery to start the industrial destruction of Tuckers Nob (compartments 26 and 27) public forest.

A vigil is being held by Friends of Tucker Nob on Gleniffer Rd.

Friends of Tucker Nob
https://www.facebook.com/groups/250189120465227/
Bellingen/ Gleniffer Community group protecting and surveying native forests.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLa7XENA3YI
Tim Cadman showing "the incredible beauty and diversity of Tuckers Nob rainforests and remnant forest. #NSWForestry is trying really hard to hide the wonders of this special Koala habitat."

'The Koala lives here'
Stop logging native forests
Stop forest destruction in a climate and biodiversity crisis

#SaveTuckersNob #Bellingen #NSWForestry #NSWLogging #FCNSW #RosesRoad #Gleniffer #wildlife #koalas #biodiversity #ClimateExtremes #GumbaynggirrCountry #BellingenShire #roads #ClimateExtremes #FireRisks #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark

Tuckers Nob Forest future still uncertain

"Two months after the Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty, ordered Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) to temporarily suspend logging in Tuckers Nob, there is still no clear indication of what the future holds for the ecologically sensitive area."
"The Department of Primary Industry is presently undertaking a further assessment of the proposed logging of Tuckers Nob compartments 26 and 27 in respect of how the Unique and Special Wildlife Values within the forest may be impacted."
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https://bellingenshirenews.com/2023/12/20/forest-future-still-uncertain/
#NSWForestry #NSWLogging #FCNSW #RosesRoad #Gleniffer #SaveTuckersNob #wildlife #koalas #biodiversity #ClimateExtremes #GumbaynggirrCountry

The impacts of the road 'renewal' projects in the Bellingen/ Gleniffer area

The stated rationale given for the $5.3 Million 'Road Renewal Program' was to boost tourism and businesses of the Promised Land and the Never Never River. The clearing of vegetation and lining the soil with bitumen and cement incidentally also eased access for the government's logging corporation (Tuckers Nob State Forests).

The year long road construction alone caused air pollution, noise, erosion, habitat loss, and greenhouse gas emissions.

The long term effects for wildlife and residents have been the loss of a livable habitat: Intensification of traffic on Gleniffer Road and Roses Road. Speeding, night time noise from traffic. More garbage in the 'gutter'.

Many fossil fuel enthusiasts are going for their ritualistic 'Sunday drive' on The Loop Drive to the Promised Land. Hoards of wanna be 'bikies' are now attracted to cruise the loop with their souped up machines. No, 'bikie gangs' are the others, here we have the fat grey nomads that finally can afford the 'Easy Rider' Harley-thingy-toy.

The area is also a niche for many local motorbike riders that are exceeding the 94 decibels limit in the age of electric motorcycles. People actually move to the countryside to enjoy the freedom of lawlessness in under-policed areas.

Bellingen Road Renewal Program $5.3 Million
https://www.bellingen.nsw.gov.au/Services/RoadsBridgesMajor-Projects/RoadsBridgesMajor-Projects/Roads/Gleniffer-Road

Noisy vehicle report: EPA action
https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/noise/vehicle-noise/reporting-noisy-vehicle-exhaust
#Bellingen #Gleniffer #GlenifferRoad #RosesRoad #BellingenShire #LiminalLandscapes #RuralPolicing #lawlessness #roads #impacts #noise #motorcycles #cars #freedom #ClimateEmergency #MobilityDesign