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The Koala Catchers

High in the branches, a koala quietly munches away on eucalyptus (yoo-ka-lip-tus) leaves. Suddenly, she hears flapping near her head. Is it a bird? A rope loops around her neck and pulls snug against her fur.

This koala is not being kidnapped. She is being saved. On Kangaroo Island, Australia, koalas have become too numerous and are running out of food. A year ago, an Australian group called Koala Rescue began to move the koalas and slow their population growth.

A Helping Hand For Hungry Koalas
During the 1920s, conservationists moved 18 koalas from mainland Australia to Kangaroo Island. The scientists feared that Australia's koalas were disappearing and figured they might do better on the island, which had plenty of eucalyptus trees.

Since then the koala population on Kangaroo Island has soared to 5,000! That may seem like good news, but the koalas have munched so many eucalyptus trees that now the trees are disappearing. Koalas eat only fragrant eucalyptus leaves. If there are too many of the animals in one spot, they strip the trees of leaves, and the trees begin to die. That hurts the environment and threatens the koalas with starvation.

To solve the problem, Koala Rescue first coaxes the koalas from their homes in the trees. "Look, it's not easy. That's for sure," says Drew Laslett, project manager of Koala Rescue. "They're wild animals and don't take kindly to being captured out of their trees."

Volunteers climb trees carrying a metal pole with a loop of rope and a plastic flag attached. Koalas don't like the rustling noise of the flag, so they climb down the tree. The loop ensures that the koalas will not hurt themselves on the way to the ground. Veterinarians then perform surgery on the koalas so that they cannot have more babies. They must be very careful with the animals. "Koalas have a great appeal, but they're not cute and cuddly!" insists Laslett. "They have big, sharp claws."

So far, Koala Rescue has caught and operated on more than 2,100 koalas. About 650 of the furry creatures have been moved to a mainland area, where there are lush eucalyptus forests. Koala Rescue plans to continue its work for at least two more years. Laslett says the koalas seem to do very well after the surgery and the move. His group is also planting thousands of new eucalyptus trees for the animals to eat: "We're all about saving koalas and making sure that the habitat is safe as well."

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Did You Know?

• KOALAS are hairless and no bigger than a jelly bean at birth. A baby stays in its mother's pouch for five or six months.
• KOALAS eat 120 different kinds of gum, or eucalyptus, trees.
• KOALAS are lazy! Their eucalyptus diet doesn't give them much energy, so koalas sleep about 19 hours a day.
• KOALAS communicate with one another by making a noise that sounds like a snore and a burp, called a bellow.

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