Building

Empathy:
Koalas
By Isabelle Poulin

Basic Koala Facts:

Koalas are small to medium
sized mammals. The only
continent they live on is
Australia. The only food
koalas eat are the leaves of
the eucalyptus tress they
inhabit. Koalas have two
opposable thumbs and
three fingers on each hand.
This allows them to grip
even the smoothest
branches when climbing.
Koalas are mainly
nocturnal, they will sleep for
eighteen to twenty hours
each day. Unknown to
most people, koalas are not
bears, they are marsupials.

Koalas Natural
Predators
Koalas only have two
significant predators. These
main predators are dingos and
humans. It is disappointing that
humans are one of two natural
predators to koalas, and
probably many other species.
This says a lot to us humans as a
species.
Raptors are a minor predator
on the mainland. On St. Bees
Island, wedge-tailed eagles
are also minor predators for
koalas.

Human and
Koala
Relationship
Humans are one of, if not, the
largest predator to koalas.
Despite the fact that koalas
can be vicious, some people
like to have koalas as pets.
These people are overlooking
the small detail that having a
koala as a pet is illegal in all
countries. Before European
settlement around 1800, it is
estimated that there were ten
million koalas living in Australia.
Now the number living is
estimated to be between fortythree thousand and eighty
thousand, what happened?

Koalas
Population History

At the beginning of European

settlement in the 1800s the koala
population was estimated to be
around ten million. Commercial
harvesting did not start until the
twentieth century. Koalas were
killed so humans could have
warm coats. The result of this
was millions of koalas killed
causing near extinction of the
species. By 1920, humans had
caused extinction of koalas in
South Australia. The total
population is estimated to have
decreased by fifty to ninety
percent making the population
estimate between forty-three
thousand and eighty thousand.

Koala Extinction
based on area
Different areas throughout
Australia have different
populations.
Queensland vulnerable or
extinct in some areas
New South Wales some
populations declining on the
coast, increasing on the west
side of the Great Dividing
Range mountains
Victoria high populations in
the south and east
Tasmania, Western Australia
and Northern Territory have
none
The population of koalas
depends on the location, just
like every other species.

Conservation
Statuses:
Just like the population varies
depending on area, the
conservation status varies as well.
Queensland vulnerable
Victoria not listed
New South Wales vulnerable
South Australia protected
IUCN status low risk/near
threatened
U.S. Fish and Wildlife service
threatened
The vulnerability of koalas depends
on where they live.

Threats to Koalas
The most substantial threat to koalas is habitat destruction.
It is estimated that eighty percent of the koala habitat has
been destroyed due to human development.
Climate change is another substantial threat to koalas.
Koalas are in the top ten species in the world to be
threatened by climate change.
Other less substantial threats to the koala population are
over browsing, cars, and disease.

Protect Koalas!
What have koalas done to
humans? Koalas dont harm
people, destroy crops, they
dont really do anything
except sit in a tree and look
magnificent! Why are we
destroying their natural
habitat? Because we can?
We shouldnt be harming
these poor animals. In fact,
they draw tourists to visit
Australia. In this case, they
make money for us. The
koala population is dropping
because of humans. We
need to protect the koala!

Essential
Questions

Do you think
advocating
for animals is
an important
part of social
justice? Why
or why not?

I believe that
advocating for animals is
an important part of
social justice. We
cannot communicate
with animals so they
have no voice or way to
express themselves. In
many situations we may
harm the animals with
them having done
nothing to us. Just
because animals have
no voice, doesnt mean
that they should be
treated unfairly.

Can we draw
any parallels
between the
attitudes we
hold toward
certain animals
and the
attitudes held
toward groups
of people?

In some situations, yes we can

draw parallels between
attitudes held towards certain
groups of people and certain
animals. Some groups of
people and animals are
treated negatively and
unfairly even though they
have done nothing to deserve
this treatment. Sometimes
people know about unfair
situations that groups of
people and groups of animals
are in, yet they ignore these
situations or pretend like they
simply do not exist. This is not
the right way to treat people
and animals but it happens
often, too often.

Bibliography
Koalas and Humans. Koala Facts and Information.
Web. 31 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.koalaworlds.com/koalas-andhumans/>
Koala. (Phascolarctos Cinereus). Web. 31 Dec.
2014. <http://a-z-animals.com/animals/koala/>
Koala Fact Sheet. Koala Fact Sheet. 31 Dec. 2014.
<http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/koala/ko
ala.htm>