Now Koalas Are Being Attacked By Dogs

[samoyedman]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/koalas-face-dog-attack-threat/story-fni0cx12-1226696691294

THE cute and cuddly symbol of Australia is under attack - from man's best friend.

Three koalas were killed within a 24-hour period this month after they were savaged by dogs in different backyards in Port Macquarie.

The attacks have prompted Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, the country's first marsupial rehabilitation centre, to urge dog owners to lock up their pets at night.

"The standard thing that happens is that the dog protects the backyard and the koala thinks the same thing," hospital supervisor Cheyne Flanagan said. "We can't make people lock up their dogs but we can try."

The first incident happened on August 6 when a mature male koala was attack by a Staffordshire bull terrier in a backyard.

The koala had only just been released back into the wild after being treated for concussion two months earlier when a branch snapped and it fell out of a tree.

The next day another mature male was "torn apart" after an encounter with a bull mastiff terrier.

The third attack involved a female which was "shredded to pieces" in another backyard by a rottweiler staffie-cross.

Last year there were 40 koalas brought into the hospital after they were mauled by dogs _ only five survived.

"Domestic dog attacks on koalas is a problem across Australia. Wild dogs don't attack as much as domestic dogs," Ms Flanagan said.

The Daily Telegraph launched a Muzzle the Mutts campaign last week, after the tragic death of two-year-old dog attack victim Deeon Higgins.

The campaign is calling on state and federal governments to create stronger control measures for dangerous dogs.

He has also flagged increasing penalties for dog owners, and banning dog breeds known to habitually attack.

The restrictions on "menacing" dogs could include muzzling requirements, restraint requirements, and forcing the dog to be in the control of a person aged over 18.

Local Government minister Don Page told a state budget estimates hearing this week that he will take the new category to cabinet in the next fortnight, and would give councils the power to put restrictions on dogs who act aggressively, but have not attacked.

[WreckitWhippet]

The dribble doesn't deserve a response...

[Are You Serious Jo]

Koalas have been attacked by dogs since dogs have been here, it's nothing new. I think someone is just trying to fill space in their paper and creating some drama.

[Plan B]

In other news, cats chase birds.

[tdierikx]

Seriously though - why did they release one of those now dead koalas back into an urban area?

And how did a story about dogs fighting with koalas in their own backyards become all about "Muzzle the Mutts" and the stupid campaign to call a dog dangerous on looks alone.

T.

[Dame Aussie]

In other news, cats chase birds.

THIS!

[bamboo]

I grew up in Port Macquarie, and still visit there. The reason the koala would have been released into an urban environment is that they are an urban population. They are also very territorial and have very specific food requirements, meaning that they cannot simply be moved to the nearest forest. As the town has grown the koalas have become habituated to living in suburbia. As a child we had koalas walk up the street to reach a favourite front yard tree. They would sit quietly while being patted by the neighbourhood children on the way, then move on apparently unconcerned by the interruption. And yes I know now that is entirely inappropriate. They had regular, exceedingly noisy, squabbles outside the bedroom window. One night a young koala was found hanging by his front legs from a tree branch when neighbours investigated the incredible racket coming from him and two adults.Someone fetched a ladder and pushed him back up into the tree,so we could all go back to sleep! The koalas were all tagged and named, and if there was any concerns about welfare a volunteer would come to check up on the animal in question. Mums and babies were a regular sight. Last year, visiting my parents, dinner was interrupted by a mother and bub making their way along the (specially designed koala friendly) fence on her way to the next urban tree. In short, they are an urban population and that means they encounter dogs regularly, and often tragically. However, I think it is appalling that a dog owner would not restrain their dog at night in areas where koalas visit. It seems like very little to do to preserve such a unique and vulnerable local population.

Edited August 14, 2013 by bamboo

[GeckoTree]

Well look out possums its a slippery slope.

[Alyosha]

Slow news day?

[BlackJaq]

Bull Mastiff Terrier? WTF

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I was shocked to read that Koalas are also frequently trampled and killed by cows if they get into their fields.

It's a sad state of affairs but I really don't know what the answer is ...

They definitely shouldn't be killed by roaming dogs but if they get into a dog's yard, it's awful but pretty impossible to fix.

I can't stop any of my dogs from killing blue tongue lizards, as much as I'd like too.

[Kirislin]

fair enough to not let dogs roam the streets freely, but to expect them to be contained at night from going into their own backyards is asking too much. It's very sad that koalas are losing their habitat to us and our dogs, the same everywhere with all our native animals.

My chickens have eaten most of the frogs and lizards in my garden.

[_PL_]

Roaming dogs (and cats) should be dealt with before they get a chance to be killed themselves.

Cars make a big dent in the population there too sadly and the paper has missed the chance of reminding people to stop speeding through the corridor areas at night.

'Muzzle a Mutt Campaign'!! The whole article a sloppy attempt at self promotion, it's not about helping the koalas at all.

[corvus]

Seriously? It's too much to ask to have dogs contained at night so they don't rip into any hapless koalas in their yard? My dogs are inside at night. They go out to toilet and if it's late or we can hear possums in the yard they go out on leash. If they find a blue tongue lizard during the day they go inside until it moves on as well. Some of our lizards are annoyingly habituated, but they live here too. If I can keep them safe from my dogs I will.

Just because the article is about an ongoing issue and somehow manages to erroneously link it to a completely different, unpopular issue doesn't mean that the whole thing is rubbish. Dogs do pose a significant threat to koalas, and people living in koala areas in my view have a responsibility to do what they can to ameliorate the threat their dogs may pose. Keeping your dog in at night is not that big a deal.

[tdierikx]

That we humans are encroaching upon their habitat at such a rate is kinda forgotten here... and then we get all hyped when our pets interact unfavourably with the wildlife that WE have displaced... *sigh*

Seriously though, it's not really that hard to contain your dogs to inside at night if there is an issue with wandering night-oriented wildlife...

T.

[_PL_]

It's one sentence (rightly) urging people to lock their dogs up at night because they are killing Koalas.

Every other sentence contains attack, mauled, shredded etc and then draws the reader into a completely different topic. It's written in such a way that koala attacks merge into the human attacks topic. And somehow legislation re 'menacing dogs' will help the koala how? Muzzle dogs in their own backyard? IMHO if they are serious about trying to help the koalas it could have been written a lot better and not have people stressing out that the dog over the fence is going to attack something/anything.

All wildlife in Port has been affected by humans and their pets and it's getting worse as the population expands.

Even the Koala Hospital seems closer to town than it used to be.

It just seems like a waste of an article. For example: keep your dogs and cats in at night would have been handy, watch the roads, don't let your livestock trample the bush, plant trees.

Fund the hospital.

And quit letting the council approve development of enormous chunks of vital land and reclaiming wetlands right in the middle of native habitat.

from the website "We need urgent support to enable us to purchase a site in Port Macquarie currently proposed for development".

[mac'ella]

lucky for us we don't have the same problems as parts of USA where the native wildlife invades suburbia and kills dogs,the advice there is lock up your dogs at night,

[Alyosha]

In areas like Port Macquarie there is frequent appeals and information about living with koalas, including about keeping them safe from dogs. This 'journalist' just appears to be using it as an introduction into a rant about dogs for other reasons. Actual info about koalas or concern about them seems pretty low down the list of points trying to be made....

[dogbesotted]

That we humans are encroaching upon their habitat at such a rate is kinda forgotten here... and then we get all hyped when our pets interact unfavourably with the wildlife that WE have displaced... *sigh*

Seriously though, it's not really that hard to contain your dogs to inside at night if there is an issue with wandering night-oriented wildlife...

T.

^^^^ this. When i had maremmas guarding my flocks and the koalas came by we would move the sheep/goats and dogs to another area. If there are koalas around the house my old guys now sleep thur but the yopungsters get confined for the night

not too hard.

H

[Plan B]

It's one sentence (rightly) urging people to lock their dogs up at night because they are killing Koalas.

Every other sentence contains attack, mauled, shredded etc and then draws the reader into a completely different topic. It's written in such a way that koala attacks merge into the human attacks topic. And somehow legislation re 'menacing dogs' will help the koala how? Muzzle dogs in their own backyard? IMHO if they are serious about trying to help the koalas it could have been written a lot better and not have people stressing out that the dog over the fence is going to attack something/anything.

All wildlife in Port has been affected by humans and their pets and it's getting worse as the population expands.

Even the Koala Hospital seems closer to town than it used to be.

It just seems like a waste of an article. For example: keep your dogs and cats in at night would have been handy, watch the roads, don't let your livestock trample the bush, plant trees.

Fund the hospital.

And quit letting the council approve development of enormous chunks of vital land and reclaiming wetlands right in the middle of native habitat.

from the website "We need urgent support to enable us to purchase a site in Port Macquarie currently proposed for development".