It’s Koala day today so we thought we’d feature Hello Koala’s sculptured koala trail. Throughout the Port-Hastings region more than 50 sponsored artist designed, hand painted fibreglass koalas are featured throughout the region. We’ve made it a mission to take photos of each of these koalas as we explore the area and will update this blog post as we do so. They say you can spend 6 hours and two days see them all!

Koalas have been listed upon our species list at Booyong and we certainly have the trees they like to eat and live in – tallowoods, forest and red gums and shelter in paperbarks, she-oaks, brush box and acacia trees.

Koala’s are marsupials, weighing between 4-14 kilograms and sleep most of the day looking for food in the evening. They use their huge claws and strong muscles to cling to trees and live 10-20 years, breeding from September to February, producing one koala per year with twins on rare occasions.

Newborns are born tiny and blind staying in its mothers pouch for approximately 7 months and then riding on its mothers back. If you would like to see Koala’s up close we highly recommend a visit to Billabong Zoo located close to the highway.

The koala is listed as ‘vulnerable to extinction’ under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 due to declining numbers and the ongoing pressure of threats such as loss of habitat and . Such listing gives the species more protection and attention, and means proposals for development that will affect koala habitat are rigorously assessed.