Gadubanud and Kirrae Whurrong Country
Traversing along south of Geelong towards Otway National Park and Port Campbell National Park along the great ocean road, Tim and I visited along the road very well travelled, spotting koala bears, sunset and sunrise light, cultural land forest and seascapes of greatness.
I had seen many koalas during my time on GurnaiKurnai country and didn’t realise that numbers among the Otways were dwindling, due to habitat loss from overbrowsing Manna Gums, so in this region and related around Victoria, namely the Otways and Southwest Vic, fertility control programs have been rolling out since 2015. Meanwhile, in the Strzeleki Ranges and South Gippsland in Victoria, a unique factor with one of the two koala species is that there is an endemic koala population of an original gene pool in this particular area. The numbers of these koalas are declining and are threatened, due to:
Climate Change and increased risk of fire
Forest Burn Offs in key koala habitat
Ongoing habitat loss (though logging and clearing) and fragmentation
Koala deaths due to cars, and attacks from dogs
(Source: Friends of the Earth Australia)
I wasn’t able to spot koalas in the Strzeleki’s, yet when we were around the Otways we saw some. It is beautiful country, while being the road well travelled, a region abounding with tourists. So, we were visitors touring for a brief 24 hours, from the forest to the sea. The iconic places. While intact, nature is beautiful.
