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1. URGENT Appeal for Koalas and the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital GoFundMe Appeal

   Posted on 10:00pm Sunday 24th Nov 2019

   I have just read the most terrible news.  Koala populations and their habitat have decreased to such an extent that they are now “functionally extinct”. Forbes.com reports that Chairman of the Australian Koala Foundation estimates that over 1,000 koalas have been killed from the fires.  80% of their habitat has been destroyed, thanksk to bush fires, prolonged drought and deforestation. Functionally extinct occurs where a population has become so limited that their population is  no longer viable. The small number of the surviving animals means that they are unlikely to survive long term.  Koalas eat up to 2 pounds of  eucalyptus leaves a day. And bushfires and deforestation has destroyed this main food source.  The recovery of such plants after fires will take months – so there will be no food for the koalas.  HELP KOALAS The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has a Go Fund Me page.  The hope was is that they would reach $25,000.  So far, they have raised $1.35 million from 35,000 donors.  One of the things they want to do is to install drinking stations for koalas in areas devastated by the fires.  And they want to have a Koala Ark so that burned koalas can live in a healthy habitat as they recover. The hospital are searching for koalas, along with the National Parks and Wildlife Service crew leaders.  So far 31 koalas have been brought to the hospital from various fire locations.  Koalas arriving at the hospital are rehydrated and examined for burns.  Burns are treated with cream, and then bandaged.  Dressings are changed every three days.  The hospital wanted to raise money to buy and distribute automatic drinking stations in the burnt areas to help koalas and wildlife.  Now, more will be built, and shared with other wildlife organisations in areas affected by fire.   Two will go to the Northern Rivers fire area next week. The hospital is buying a water carrying vehicle with fire fighting capabilities to replenish the drinking stations with water as they need it. Thanks to the incredible amount of money raised, the hospital is going to establish a wild koala breeding programme. The bushfires in and around the Port Macquarie area killed about 350 koalas.  75% of the fireground footprint was prime koala habitat. Be a part of this rescue mission - please donate As well as donating to help the koalas, we can all do what we can do consider how our life style is impacting on the planet.   The human race has caused enough destruction of our natural world.  It’s time to do the right thing and put this right. PLEASE DONATE NOW These koalas need our help All images on this blog copyright to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.   PS There's another GoFundMe appeal for the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital Foundation who are also needing funds to help care for koalas affected by wildfires.  Visit their GoFundMe page

2. 3,100 respond to an appeal for Big Cats

   Posted on 9:00pm Saturday 31st Aug 2019

   Do you ever hear of an appeal and wonder how many people sign up to it? Well, National Geographic had a Big Cats Appeal in honour of World Lion Day on 10 August.  They asked people to help protect lions, cheetahs and other Big Cats.  Big Cats are in trouble because of habitat loss, degradation and conflict with humans. 3,100 people responded to an appeal for Big Cats. And they raised an incredible $199,000.   That money will go straight to fund innovative solutions and technology protecting wildlife and wild places. ©National Geographic Society National Geographic has identified 20 populations across 18 countries as priority areas for lions.  These populations encompass almost 1.25 million square kilometres – it’s estimated they have 83% of Africa’s known lion population. And they help communities too, as they create conservation programmes which help protect wonderful Big Cats and employ local people too.  Find out more and support their work here Derek and Beverly Joubert are conservationists and film makers who have been working to help save big cats and other key wildlife species and their habitats for over 30 years.    The Jouberts and National Geographic founded the Big Cats Initiative in 2009 to try to halt the decline of big cats in the wild. The Big Cats Initiative supports scientists and conservationists who are working to save big cats.   They have built over 1,800 livestock enclosures to protect livestock and so save big cats from retaliatory killings.  The Big Cats Initiative takes a three pronged approach to big cat conservation: It assesses It assesses and maps big cat populations, and it analyses the success of measures put in place to help protect them – this knowledge helps guide the protection efforts the Big Cats Initiative chooses to fund. It protects The initiative supports protects designed and implemented by people living in areas where they are big cats, creating ways in which local communities and big cats can co-exist It communicates With Nat Geo WILD, the Big Cats Initiative spreads the word about the big cat decline, thus encouraging the public to find out more through free education initiatives and programming on Nat Geo WILD. Find out more about the Big Cats Initiative here 3 ways to help and get involved: Donate Spread the word Sign up for the newsletter so that you can get updates from the field

    

    

3. Bangalow Koalas creating koala wildlife corridor

   Posted on 3:00pm Saturday 10th Aug 2019

   Planting trees with Bangalow Koalas and IFAW The IFAW (that’s the International Fund for Animal Welfare) have planted 1,500 koala trees on Irish comedian Jimeion’s property. A number of private land owners in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, have taken action to keep the local koalas safe.  They are allowing parts of their properties to be re-planted with eucalyptus trees.  This means the koalas can have a safe haven and pass through the landscape. The idea came from Bangalow Koalas who want to restore a koala wildlife corridor from Byron Bay to Repentance Creek.  A neighbour of Jimeion kindly let everyone use his paddock so that they could get to the steep land behind Jimeion’s property. Over 120 people came to help, all wanting to help plant koala trees and secure the species’ future.   Amongst them were old and young volunteers – plus tourists from the UK and Germany.  Imagine going home after your holiday and telling people you were part of a volunteer group which planted trees to help secure koalas’ future! The land had been prepared already and the holes pre-dug.  Saplings had been provided – and all the volunteers planted 1,500 trees IN ONE HOUR!  They trees were the koalas’ favourite local food trees such as red gum, swamp mahogany, tallow wood and the important medicinal melaleuca that koalas eat from instinct when they don’t feel well. The trees grow quickly in the climate and in a few years they will be home for koalas, birds and native wildlife.  And Jimeoin hopes that by planting trees on his land, the koalas will stay.   The key message IFAW want us to take from this is that yes, there are messages of loss and possible extinction of koalas.  They are certainly in trouble.  But there is hope – and crucially THERE IS A SOLUTION. ©Bangalow Koalas IFAW and Bangalow Koalas hope to plant 25,000 trees by the end of the year.  It’s a fantastic thing to do and I hope they make it.  A big thank you to both IFAW and Bangalow Koalas, and also to volunteers and – of course – to the land owners who are willing to help the koalas in this way  Visit IFAW here Visit Bangalow Koalas here – check out their gallery, whatever you do.  It has some beautiful photos and videos of the Bangalow Koalas!  You can become a member or donate through their website to help.  Here’s a video of another project Bungalow Koalas worked on with the Northern Rivers Community Foundation.  They started a wildlife corridor in Binna Burra in the Northern Riveres of NSW to help conserve the local koalas.

4. Land donated - Presidential Estates in Eastern USA

   Posted on 8:00pm Tuesday 16th Jul 2019

   The West Virginia Governor, Jim Justice, and his family have made a donation to the future of Virginia. They have donated 4,500 acres in Virginia and in doing so have forfeited hundreds of development rights.   That’s about 7 square miles. The area will remain as timberland and for agriculture – but at least it won’t be full of sprawling housing developments and shopping malls.   Known as Presidential Estates, 2,657 acres of the property are ranked as having “High” or “Very High” forest conservation value, according to the Virginia Department of Forestry.   The property also has over 18 miles of watercourses.  These contribute to the aquatic habitat and public drinking water supplies of communities downstream. There are plenty of opportunities for us all to make land donations and every single square foot we can donate help.   Pledge a patch for wildlife - you don't need thousands of acres to make a difference.    Every square foot helps.   Your patch can be as big as this pot with wildlife friendly flowers in it! pic copyright to Worcestershire Wildlife Trust. Worcestershire Wildlife Trust are asking people in the area to Pledge a Patch – which means dedicating an area to wildlife.   This patch could be in your garden, school, community or work place.  It could be a window box, woodland, a bed full of wild-flowers, a tiny pond – anything that makes a difference to wildlife. The more of us who can do this, the better.  We have turned our garden over to wildlife and consider it theirs, as much as ours. Meantime, donations such as Governor Justice and his family make also help considerably, of course, so if you have a patch of land…. please consider leaving it to a local conservation charity or work out ways to make the most of for wildlife.   Keep it safe from human development.

    

5. Polar bears heading to unusual places as sea ice melts

   Posted on 2:00pm Thursday 9th May 2019

   I had an interesting email from Polar Bears International (PBI) today. They have noticed that polar bears are showing up in odd places.   An exhausted polar bear was seen recently in a village on Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula – and that’s 600 kilometers plus from its home range. Their Senior Director of Conservation, Geoff York, thinks this could be that the bear hitched a ride on an ice floe and drifted south, as the ice broke up earlier in the Bering and Chukchi seas this spring.  Unusual and fast ice loss this year has displaced polar bears form their preferred hunting areas.   Seals give birth to their pups in spring In snow lairs or on the sea ice surface.  This makes the polar bear’s dinner more abundant and accessible than at any other time of the year. However the Russian polar bear was far from this area. It was decided to air-lift him back north, to Chukotka in the Russian Arctic. But there have been other unusual occurrences in the region over several months.  Some have been far from the sea.   This could be because of unstable ice cover. Sustained early sea ice is bad news for polar bears Polar Bears International know from other regions that sustained early sea ice break up doesn’t do polar bears any good.  Fewer hunting opportunities Decreased body condition Impacts on reproduction which aren’t good Negative impacts on survival, especially the old and  young If there’s less sea ice in the Arctic, it gets more difficult for polar bears to make a living from the frozen ocean.  Of course people living on the Arctic rely on stable ice to get around on, and to gather food.  We all need a frozen Arctic ecosystem to regulate our climate.    So we ALL need the Arctic to be in good health. Polar Bears International works in 3 ways: Education and outreach.  As more polar bears appear onshore, the charity works to help keep polar bears and people safe, with outreach on best practices for avoiding human-polar bear conflict.   These include getting rid of things such as open garbage dumps and installing bear-proof ones.  Research – the charity is studying the effectiveness of using surveillance radar to detect approaching polar bears.  This means alerts can be given before a bear enters town.  PBI help with research on the best deterrants – and that includes putting together a  history of polar bear attacks, and their causes to help avoid future conflicts. Climate Action. PBI is one working to solve the climate crisis, sharing their knowledge of polar bears and coming up with solutions.  This includes the Climate Alliance training program for zoo staff members, outreach to motivate citizen involvement, and advocacy to policy makers on the urgent need to act. Get involved and help polar bears