Our beautiful koalas face multiple threats. Threats brought about largely as unintentional consequences of our lifestyles including: urban development, habitat fragmentation, tree-logging, agriculture, disease, as well as natural disasters related to climate change. But it is not all doom and gloom. Many, many beautiful people are giving koalas and other wildlife a voice and work tirelessly to prevent the worse.

This is why, this month, we ask you to consider Friends of the Koala at the end of the financial tax year and donate to save koalas. There are many different ways you can support our work suitable for all budgets!

Challenges and solutions

The development of rural areas and the consumption of land for infrastructure leads to koala habitat loss and fragmentation. As this happens, koala habitat shrinks and fragments, and koalas unknowingly and often fatally cross our roads and venture into residential gardens – which in turn pose the risk of dog attacks.

The precariousness of life for koalas, leads to both acute and chronic stress and over time, the stress is associated with reduced immunity, making the koala more vulnerable to disease and infection.

Koalas are also enduring a chlamydia epidemic, believed to have originated from exposure to the faeces of livestock. It spreads rapidly through direct physical contact and can result in death. Unfortunately, chalmydia is the number one killer of koalas in the Northern Rivers region. The koala’s unique biology also makes it difficult to treat them for chlamydial related disease.

Koalas are up against so much and need all the support they can get.

We want to create an environment where we happily coexist with koalas and other wildlife, but for this to happen, we need nature to be prioritised, better planning, guaranteed long term government investment, for decision makers to strengthen and develop laws, polices and awareness campaigns and programs to name a few main issues.

How to save koalas

What can you do? Without funds we run on passion and dedication only and unfortunately, cannot save koalas on that alone. It is difficult for organisations like us to keep having to ask for donations but it is a reality in today’s world, we need money. We need donations to save koalas. If you are able to, please donate to Friends of the Koala.

We are extremely fortunate to have close to three hundred volunteers working to save koalas. The economical contribution of our incredible volunteers keeps our operational costs remarkably low, making sure donations go far.

Friends of the Koala is a unique organisation focussing on all aspects of koala conservation to ensure their survival now and for generations to come, we are as unique as the koalas we are working to save.

With your help, sick and injured koalas can be rescued, rehabilitated, and released, trees can be planted, habitat can be preserved, koalas can be vaccinated against disease, communities can be educated, research can be done and so much more.

Your impact can begin today

The need to save koalas

Koalas cannot speak for themselves, so we need to speak for them, and they need our help.

The number of admissions since we established the Koala Hospital has markedly increased as has the urgency to protect existing koala populations for future generations. This year has been a very busy and distressing year, with many koala fatalities and we have witnessed a twenty per cent increase in the number of koalas coming through our Northern Rivers Koala Hospital.

We do not receive any government funding for day-to-day expenses such as medicine, veterinary staff and hospital equipment.

We are entirely self-funded through donations of time, goods and services via our volunteers, business partnerships, project grants and one-off cash donations.

We rely on fundraising efforts to perform the lifesaving work we undertake in our Koala Hospital.

Ways to donate to save koalas

We want to make supporting our work easy so that you can donate to koalas in a way that best suits your needs. For this reason we have multiple options for you from as little as $5 to adopt a tree. You can donate to koalas with Friends of the Koala in these ways:

• Adopt a tree
• Adopt a koala
• Leave a bequest in your will
• Vaccinate a koala
• Become a Friend of the Northern Rivers Hospital
• Partner with us
• Sign up to a Joey Buddies subscription or simply,
• Donate

We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting our work. All contributions are valuable, Spreading the word about our work is valuable. Giving money is valuable. Because of generous contributions from caring members of the public, we can save our beloved koalas from extinction or at least give it our best shot!

Friends of the Koala is a registered charity which means any donation to us is 100% tax deductible. Choose where your money goes, donate to issues you care deeply about.

Why Friends of the Koala

Friends of the Koala is one of Australia’s leading charitable koala rescue and rehabilitation organisations and have been on the forefront of koala conservation for almost four decades.

In this time, we have proven that we are both highly effective and vitally important to the future of koalas, operating the only dedicated koala hospital in the Northern Rivers as well as participating in ground-breaking research, habitat conservation through our native plant nursery, education and advocacy.

We have a deep understanding of the unique challenges faced by koalas in our region and work directly with the community to foster coexistence with koalas. We also work with decision makers to strengthen and develop laws, policies, awareness campaigns and programs.

Friends of the Koala fast facts:

• Since it’s inception in 2019, our Koala Hospital has more than doubled the survival rate of rescued koalas admitted to our onsite Koala Care Centre.
• We provide medical treatment to over 350 koalas each year – more than any other koala hospital in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
• We are currently the ONLY wildlife hospital in NSW licensed to vaccinate all koalas against chlamydia upon their healthy release to the wild. Chlamydial disease is the number one disease killer of koalas in our region.
• We have successfully rehabilitated and released over 2,000 koalas back into the wild.