Lincoln Park ZooKeeper in Australia with Australian Koala Foundation.



April 22, 1996-- Pearl Yusuf, Animal Keeper for Lincoln Park's three Queensland koalas is working on-site in the Australian outback for the next two weeks. Pearl is the Zoo's representative in a project organized by the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) and the Zoological Society of San Diego to develop a computerized Koala Habitat Atlas for this unique and threatened animal.


* Update From Pearl In The Field--April 24, 1996

* Update From Pearl In The Field--April 27, 1996

Working in SE Queensland and northern New South Wales, the project participants are intensively analyzing koala scratch marks, feces, and actual presence in 40 x 40 meter quadrants, thus compiling data on how koalas utilize their habitats and select trees. Habitat maps will be created as will reliable estimates of how many animals that can be sustained in a given area. AKF hopes to use this data to influence industry decision-makers and developers to minimize the destruction and fragmentation of quality koala habitats. This information has become critical since the devastating fires of 1994 that incinerated 1.2 million acres of the koala's remaining range in New South Wales.

The project, now in its second year, is an example of a truly hands-on collaborative conservation effort by zoos to protect animals in the wild. The work itself is physically demanding, dirty, tedious and carried out in primitive conditions, but the results can mean the difference between viability and eventual extinction for these strange but endearing marsupials.

Pearl has been a keeper at Lincoln Park Zoo for almost nine years, and has supervised the care of its three Queensland koalas since they arrived in September 1988. She has trained in koala management techniques at San Diego Zoo and has twice volunteered on research projects in Australia.

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Wednesday, April 24, 1996. 7:20 AM-- Queensland, Australia.

Hi folks! I meant to write last night, but between the day we had and dinner entertaining a few locals interested in what we're doing, I lost my way. There are a total of 10 Americans working on this project. We have a few Australians popping in a day here and there. I usually get up around 6:30 am to the sound of Laughing Kookaburras. I didn't know they call like roosters would at dawn! We're living in a dorm-type situation, so ther'e always a short wait for showers. Although it's autumn here, there's still a fair number of insects about. There's a praying mantis that sits on the screen near our shower room. We generally try to make it to breakfast by 7 am, pack a lunch and get out by 8 am. We're driven to our site and then set off on a hike to the actual location. That's the hardest part. Some of it is very hilly country. It certainly shows that you're not as fit as you think.

After assessing the site for evidence of koalas, there's a long hike back, and then off to another site to do it all over again. We usually get about 2 or 3 plots done in our 8-hour day. I haven't seen any koalas yet-but that goes with the frustrations of field work. I have faith that we will, though. Yesterday was quite an adventure. We were working at a site as usual. It's been raining for the last few days and because of that most of us got a new experience-LEECHES. They don't really hurt, it's just the thought of them attached to you that's revolting. The understory of the forest we were working in was about 6-8 feet tall, with the leeches on the ground.

Well, it's 7:20 am now and I've got to eat breakfast and make lunch. Talk to you soon...
--Pearl

Saturday, April 27, 1996. 12:03 AM

Hello again! Thursday's trip to the survey site seemed a little more hopeful than our leech-ridden day on Wednesday. Hopeful, that is, until we got into the swamp. The koalas were not in the swamp area, mind you, but we had to go through it to get to their forest. A few kilometers later we discovered evidence of recent koala activity (that is fresh scratches and fresh fecal pellets under a eucalypt species preffered by koalas). But we couldn't find where he was. After another few kilometers through the swamp we were ready for our second survey of the day. This was a much more pleasant area to work in (we only had to cross a valley with quite steep hills around-but no leeches or swamps). We found a few pellets at that site. We found a koala, too--but could only note it anecdotally since she was out of the survey site.

It is becoming more and more evident (to me in my short participation in this atlas, but overall in the whole study) that koalas are not as abundant in Queensland as everyone thought. It is disheartening to hear that the stae of Queensland wants to (but has not yet) declare the koala's status as "common", when they haven't even conducted surveys to find out what the real story is. All around Queensland you see new roads and new resorts and condos. It's a beautiful state, but it looks like as in most of the world, wildlife is suffering for the prime potential human area they occupy. But I digress...

Friday was fairly tame physically. We didn't see any koalas, but we did see an echidna. It was semi buried to protect itself from us. As usual, we saw a variety of stunning birds.

Today (Saturday) was relatively sane. We saw a koala on the way to the site...in someone's front lawn tree! They came out to talk to us as we stopped to look, and were quite pleasant and concerned for the koala since there was a new housing development going up just a few blocks away. Of course we weren't in a position to do anything, but we told her more about our surveys and how we wanted this information to help when the powers that be are deciding where to put the next resort or road.

The rest of the day was fairly normal. We got 2 sites done. We probably could have done another, but again it was pouring rain, and the 2 sites we had done were quite a challenge to get to. Also, tomorrow we have our first and only day off!!!! Many people are going to see local sights, but I think I might just rest.
--Pearl

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