Two-year-old koala ‘Adam’ is being released into a Brisbane bushland reserve today as part of Brisbane City Council’s successful Koala Reestablishment Program.
The joint initiative with the University of Queensland aims to reintroduce a resilient koala population into Pooh Corner in Wacol.
The Council says all evidence suggests the furry locals are thriving, with a new joey recently born in the area through the reintroduced population.
“I want Brisbane to remain the koala capital of Australia and to do this we must be serious about protecting them,” said Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner.
“Adam had a rough start in life – coming to the clinic with significant health issues – now he’s been given a new lease on life and I have a feeling he will be very happy in Pooh Corner.
“Brisbane has the best lifestyle in all of Australia, where you can spot a koala less than 10 kilometres from the CBD and projects like this one help to protect them and boost their population.
“Nina and I often take the kids for family walks and our favourite thing to do is spot koalas. I want to make sure more residents are able to enjoy opportunities like this, now and into the future,” the Lord Mayor said.
Adam joins Matilda, Karri, Lady Jane, Glenda, Chandler, Heaven, Attie, Olive, Oscar, Olive’s yet-unnamed baby Joey that have made Pooh Corner their home since 2022.
It is hoped Adam will further improve the genetic diversity of koalas in Wacol and help build the population of the national icon.
Pooh Corner Bushland Reserve was acquired by Council in 2006 as part of the Bushland Acquisition Program, with work then undertaken to make it the ideal koala habitat.
The success of the program led to Lord Mayor Schrinner announcing in February that a further four sites would be investigated for koala reintroduction.
These sites are Mount Coot-tha Reserve, Marstaeller Road Reserve, Bayside Parklands in Wynnum and the Karawatha Reserve.
Council also continues to work with the Queensland University of Technology and University of Queensland to support the rollout of the ground-breaking koala chlamydia vaccine.
“We are super excited about the addition of a new male koala to the population at Pooh Corner Reserve. I’m sure some of the females will be happy to meet him. And he should add new genetics to the population which is a great outcome for the longer-term conservation of the population,” said University of Queensland’s Dr Sean Fitzgibbon.
“The Pooh Corner project has already demonstrated that koala populations can be re-established in suitable, unoccupied habitat. We are starting to see population growth through breeding females, and the addition of this new male, Adam, will further enhance the population.”
