30/05/2026
🐨 A difficult week for Redlands koalas
As a rescue organisation, we leave advocacy to groups such as Koala Action Group, who work tirelessly in that space. Our role is rescue, rehabilitation and responding when koalas need help.
That doesn't mean we aren't deeply saddened by what is happening at Ormiston College.
Every day, our volunteers work incredibly hard to save koalas. We see the impacts of habitat loss, vehicle strikes, dog attacks and disease firsthand. We also know many researchers, wildlife carers, rescuers and conservationists working quietly behind the scenes who are feeling the weight of this situation too.
We haven't been sitting idle.
Our team has been monitoring the area and doing what we can within a very strict set of rules governed by DETSI. However, there is one thing we cannot stress enough:
This is their home. Right now.
Healthy koalas cannot simply be removed because habitat is being cleared. We cannot relocate healthy koalas, and neither can the developers. Even where relocations occur elsewhere, koalas often attempt to return to their home range. In doing so, they may cross roads, enter unfamiliar territory, encounter dogs, or face other hazards.
That is not an outcome any of us want.
As of this morning, there are two koalas still on that site that we can see.
Two.
And that's only from the road.
How many more are in there that we can't see? How many are sitting quietly in the remaining trees, stressed and confused as the habitat they know disappears around them?
We worry about the koalas everyone can see. We worry even more about the ones nobody can.
For those saying "it's only some trees" or "it's only part of the habitat", it is important to understand that koalas don't just sit in a handful of gum trees. They utilise entire landscapes. Feed trees are important, but so are shelter trees, movement corridors and the many other trees that allow them to move safely through their home range.
To a koala, this isn't just vegetation.
It's home.
If you witness something that concerns you during these works, please film it and pass the information on to Koala Action Group.
If you see a koala on the ground, injured, distressed, or in a situation that doesn't look right, please contact Koala Rescue Redlands & Surrounds immediately. We operate 24/7 and, while our powers may be limited, we will still attend and assess the situation.
We genuinely wish this outcome had been different.
For a species already facing immense pressure across the Redlands, this feels like another straw on the camel's back. A sapling planted elsewhere does not provide food, shelter or connectivity for the koalas that need those things today.
💔🐨
This isn't just about trees. It's about the animals that call this place home.
