A little bit about our new family member

Hi guys! If you follow us on social media, you’ve probably read many times about the sweetest koala that we adopted few months ago. We were very excited for this step, because if there is anything we can do to make this world a better place, we never think it twice, especially when it comes to animal protection.

There are millions of foundations where we could contribute or send money, also many people asked us why koala and not a child from Africa. We’re not here today to give explanations why this and not that, because it’s a personal decision and each one of you is free to support any organization you want. We write this post because we want to raise awareness about the problems of the wild koalas and their future. This is not a sponsored post, we just want to give you an idea about what we can do to ensure a safe and secure future for koala and its habitat. If you read this post and decide to contribute, that would be great. If you don’t, but you take other actions to help environment, that still sounds more than fine! 

We joined the Adopt a Koala Program at the beginning of this year. This project is managed by Australian Koala Foundation which works very hard to save the habitat for Australia’s koalas. If you check their website, you will see that there are many koalas waiting to be adopted – from joeys to their mums and other adults! It wasn’t easy to choose because all of them are super cute, but when we saw the picture of Jimmie Jams, we had no doubt – he was our baby boy! Adoption is one of many different options to help saving koalas. You can for example plant a tree or donate money. Find out more about all the projects here.

Wha’s going on with the koala habitat?

Everyone loves these cute, cuddly animals, but did you know that koalas are in trouble? There were millions of koalas in the wild only 100 years ago. Since then, 80% of Australia’s Koala habitat has already been lost due to land clearing and bush fire.

The most important thing to know is that Koala habitat is disappearing fast and the only way to save this endangered specie is by protecting their home. Util 1920s koalas were killed for their fur. Today the Australian law protects koala as animal, but it doesn’t protect their habitat. What does it mean? It means that no one can harm any koala, but there are no laws to protect the gum trees that koalas rely on for food and shelter.

Most of us like to live together in a house with other members of our family. If someone attack our home, we call police immediately because we want to feel safe. Koalas live in families too, but instead of living in one house, they choose an area of forest for their home. Each koala has its own territory called a home range, made up of quite number of different trees. They visit the same trees regularly, so if the home range trees are burnt or cut, the koalas lose both food and shelter and a place to breed. Because other koalas live in the trees next door, a koala cannot just move next door when its own trees are destroyed. Would you move into your neighbor house if your home was knocked down like koalas homes are? How would you feel when you arrived home to find your house was gone? Most probably upset and confused, correct? Now imagine you can’t get to a shop to buy any food. How long you think you could survive without food and shelter? Koalas experience feelings like these when their trees are cleared to make way for a new road or housing estate.

That’s why Australian Koala Foundation is focused on enacting the Koala Protection Act that says you cannot though koala trees. This is the only way to guarantee a safe future for koalas. The organization also created a Koala Map which identifies tree species and koalas. You can quickly add a koala sighting in case you have seen one during your visit in Australia. This way the foundation makes sure if he/she needs any help.

What other dangers koalas have to face?

Clearing of the forests for farms, roads and other modern conveniences together with bushfires is the principal reason for the loss of koala habitat. Koalas may survive the clearing, but they have still fins somewhere new to live and they put their life in danger every time they have to cross a road or house to find food trees. Thousands of koalas are killed each year on Australian busy roads. Apart from that, because most koalas live on land that is privately owned, it means they have to face not native animals brought by people from other countries like dogs or foxes. Then also can fall into a swimming pool and get drowned. Unless they have a safe area of undisturbed habitat, they are very likely to be killed or get sick. 

It’s important to know that koalas not only suffer from loss of their homes and food, but also can die because of experiencing a lot of stress! The main disease koalas suffer from is chlamydia, which doesn’t make the koalas sick until they get really stressed, what happens a lot when they try to find a new home to live. 

For us, adopting Jimmie Jams was one of the best decisions ever. We received adoption certificate with his picture and we will proudly hang it in our living room. Our monthly payment helps to save his cousins in the wild. And we can’t wait to visit him at the sanctuary! If you decide for adoption or maybe consider it as a gift for a friend, remember that if you’re ever in the area, you can visit your koala. 🙂 We believe that being part of this program is a real commitment and we take it seriously, that’s why we want to spread all the information among our followers. 

If koalas ever face the threat of extinction, it will be because of the human race and how many trees we’ve cut down in the last 200 days. And this issue is not only related to Australia, it occurs all over the world – from Amazon Jungle to African Safari. We are the only ones responsible for destroying the natural habitat of animals. They didn’t move in our backyards but we, humans, moved itno theirs! Saving the koala, or any other animal habitat, is the only way to ensure its survival in the future. Everyone can do something to we believe that if each person did even one little thing, it would add up to a lot of help for the environment. Saving animals begins with simple actions. It’s your choice to make the first step.

From Barcelona with love,

Koalas on the road