A sanctuary for up to 1,000 koalas and other wildlife will be established on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island next month with plans to facilitate research into a sustainable future on the island for the marsupials.
The Koala Sanctuary Limited has been founded by koala researchers Karen Burke da Silva and Julian Beaman and environmental philanthropist Alan Noble.
Dr Beaman said philanthropic donations had enabled the charity to purchase a 530-hectare property in the north-west of the island from plantation company Kiland Limited.Blue gums to be replaced
Known as Kellendale, the property is mainly covered by introduced Tasmanian blue gum trees, but Kiland will help the sanctuary with the gradual and staged removal of the trees and replacement with vegetation native to the island.Dr Beaman said the sanctuary would not only provide safety for the estimated 750 to 1,000 animals currently on the property but would also facilitate research into maintaining a sustainable koala population on the island.
The number of koalas on the island was severely impacted by the Black Summer bushfires of 2019–20, but as numbers recovered local wildlife carers raised concerns around starvation as the island’s plantations started to be removed.
Dr Beaman said the sanctuary would provide tourism and education opportunities.
“We also want it to be a place where other native, endemic, and threatened species on Kangaroo Island can live, and where people can come … and have an immersive, unique experience with koalas and other native animals, as well as seeing native restoration in progress,” he said.
“We want the sanctuary to be somewhere that employs local people, brings money to the economy, and also helps to educate people about how to tread lightly when they come to Kangaroo Island and be a responsible tourist to the island.”Important population
Kangaroo Island is home to the largest chlamydia-free koala population in Australia, which Dr Beaman said was an important insurance for the future of the species.
“Chlamydia infection rates in the east coast populations can be as high as 80, 90, sometimes even 100 per cent,” he said.
“Not only are the infection rates very high, but the clinical symptoms and implications of the disease for those animals are severe, where you see very severe clinical symptoms of conjunctivitis, urinary tract infections, infertility, and it’s a major challenge for the conservation of the species.
“Having a population on an island that is chlamydia-free and with good biosecurity that can be maintained is a real benefit for the conservation of the species.”
Controversial plantations
Kiland is in the process of clearing 18,600 hectares of its plantations on Kangaroo Island, reverting their land holdings to agricultural purposes.
The island’s timber industry suffered a huge blow in the 2019–20 bushfires, and Kiland, formerly known as Kangaroo Island Plantation Timber, announced the conversion after its application to build a port at Smith Bay was rejected.
Concerns over koala welfare and potential starvation were first raised in 2023, with the SA Environment Minister Susan Close ordering a halt to clearing in March 2024 after footage emerged of koalas falling from trees during logging operations.
AAG Investment Management (AAGIM), the company contracted by Kiland to clear the contentious plantation, restarted operations in April after implementing a new koala management plan aimed at reducing the number of wildlife deaths.
