The Future of Koalas | National Geographic

The whole area has been charred. There's no way a koala will be living here anymore. They're in real big trouble. Oh, that's adorable. [Music] Wow!

My name's Jack Randall, and I'm a zoologist. Let's see how close I can get here. Australia's wild places and animals are close to my heart. Earlier this year, the most devastating wildfires on record swept through the country, consuming over 18 million hectares of land and killing over a billion animals. I've been following this story since then and have come to South Australia to see how people and nature are fighting back and to find out more about the fate of one of the world's most beloved animals, the koala.

This forest used to be a perfect habitat for koalas because it's all eucalyptus trees. Koalas were in huge populations, but now they're in real big trouble. The good thing is that there's been lots of Australians that really care for their wildlife, and they've come to places like this to find any koalas that needed to be saved.

My first stop is the Adelaide Koala Rescue Triage Center, where a team of volunteers dedicate their time to rescuing wild koalas in need. Ah, that is the most adorable animal I've ever seen in my life! He's cute even when he's not trying to be.

“How many koalas would you say you've rescued over the bushfire period?”

“Over 300.”

“Wow, 300! Will they be released back into the wild?”

“We've released 80 koalas. We do however have some koalas that have no home to go home to. It'll be quite a few years before those habitats are good enough for koalas to go back into.”

Now, a lot of these rescued koalas need serious medical care, and the Adelaide Koala and Wildlife Hospital provide just that. Even now while koalas are being brought in injured, dehydrated, or without homes.

“So, this is Ashley. She was picked up yesterday. She was found in the inside of a burnt-out tree. So what we'll do is we'll do a full check over start to finish. There actually aren't any burns to her paws, which is really good, so hopefully she wasn't around when the significant fire went through.”

Although at first glance, Ashley seems perfectly healthy, nurse Natasha worries that smoke inhalation might have damaged her lungs.

“She does have a really quite muffled chest sound, so normally you can hear the air moving around in her chest. She's just covered in charcoal. Imagine all of that being inhaled into the lungs; it cannot be good for any koala. So what do you think's the chances of her managing to survive and get back out into the wild?”

“Well, if we can get everything under control, for about 80 percent chance that she'll go. We just have to make sure that we can keep her pain-free and provide supportive care throughout her healing process.”

“80? Well, I'm definitely happy with that. That's amazing.”

Ashley is one of the lucky ones to have been found and taken to the hospital, but what about those that are still out there? It's one of the hottest days of the year, and koalas don't do well in the heat.

“So what's the best thing to do if you see a dehydrated koala?”

“I've seen that people have been feeding koalas water. By the way, you're supposed to give water in a bowl, right?”

“In a bowl or in your scooped hands, yeah. Otherwise, they can actually inhale it into their lungs, and then it can cause secondary infections, like pneumonia and things. And it is quite life-threatening in that case.”

“Wow, I must be careful!”

I set off to Norton Summit, where there is a chance I'll be able to check on any koalas that might be struggling with the heat. This area has been untouched by the fires, so it's one of the last refuges for the koalas living in this state.

“Usually they'll be high up in the trees, but if they're lowered down, it means they're overheating.”

I've actually got some water with me, and I'm gonna offer that water to a koala that might be really, really thirsty.

“So that is koala poo? They only eat the leaves in these eucalyptus trees. They actually just absorb as much moisture from her food as possible. There's very little moisture left in there. It smells a bit like eucalyptus.”

“I've actually heard that the koalas, they like sitting by the side of a road, believe it or not. I think it's a bit cooler down there, so I'm gonna go up to the top of this valley, and there's a road up there, so I'm gonna move along there looking for any koalas that might be there.”

“Wow, you got one! It's a koala in the tree, really, really close down to the ground. It must be extremely, extremely hot. An old Aboriginal language, koala actually means ‘no drink’. Koalas don't normally need to drink any water at all; they get all their water from the leaves. But the problem is, it's so hot; it's so dry, that the moisture content in the leaves is so low, so they're not getting as much water as they would usually.”

“If he's really dehydrated, he may take some water from me.”

He's a bit confused. He's like, “What is that human doing up in the tree?”

“Hello mate, I got a bowl so he can just lick out the water because if he takes too much water in one go, they can actually drown in water; so you have to be really careful. You're very thirsty!”

Wow, we've got a very dehydrated koala here, taking that water from my hands. But that might be enough just to get him through this real, real hard dry season.

“It's nice to meet you, mate. Good luck!”

This was a wildlife encounter that will stay with me for the rest of my life. [Music]

Seeing this koala later on in the evening, high up in his tree, it filled me with hope. But until these forest habitats are restored, the future of the whole of Australia's koala population hangs in the balance.

“Wow, look at that! Many of these trees you'd look at and think that's it; they're gone forever. That's not the case. This is new life that's coming to this tree. I reckon in a few years’ time, I'll come back here and see this place thriving again with lots of wildlife.” [Music]

Nature's resilience to bounce back is just remarkable, but only when combined with a solid reforestation program and the incredible efforts of so many Australian wildlife warriors will it be enough to give Australia's most adored species hope for the future. [Music]