Koala Sightings

Koalas are listed as endangered in Queensland under Queensland’s Nature Conservation Act (1992) (NC Act) and the Australian Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999) (EPBC Act).   The site of the former Arundel Hills Country Club is a vital koala habitat and acts as a corridor connecting other areas of koala habitat too.  The more we can establish that fact, the greater the problem the developers will have in obtaining permission to build on the land.

The developers are fully aware of this and in the (wholly inadequate) wildlife survey that they submitted with their development application, they contended that there was evidence of only one koala being present on the site.  We, of course, know that is not true, but it is up to us to establish that fact beyond any doubt.

The good news is that we have an easy way to do that.  Both Gold Coast City Council and Queensland Government provide ways for koala sightings to be reported.  The details of how to do that are listed below.

If you see a koala on, or anywhere near, the site, please report it.  Please don’t assume your neighbours will have done it.  There is no problem with multiple people reporting the same koala but if we don’t report a sighting, that would definitely be a missed opportunity.  And, if you have the time, please report it both to the City Council and to Queensland Government.  Both bodies are likely, at some stage, to assess the environmental impact of development plans for the site.  As far as we are aware, they do not share koala sighting data so it is important to inform both bodies of each sighting.

This is the perfect example of how the people of the community, with a little bit of effort from each of us, can work together to overcome the spin paid for by the developers’ dollars.

Reports to the council are done via the council’s web site.  The page you have to visit is in the link below.  On that page there are a few questions to answer about when and where you made the sighting.  There is also an opportunity to upload a photo if you took one.  You don’t have to report it immediately.  You can submit the report a few days after the sighting if that’s more convenient for you.  Just remember to note down the details so that you can report it accurately.

Report a Koala Sighting to Gold Coast City Council

The Queensland Government uses a mobile phone app to capture wildlife sightings.  The app is called QWildlife.  You should be able to find it by searching for that name in the AppStore (for Apple phones) or in Google Play (for Android phones).  You will need to install the app before you can use it.  If you have any problem finding the app, please return to this page on your mobile phone (if you are not on it already) and use the appropriate link below, depending on whether you have an Apple or Android phone.

Apple phone – install the app from App Store
Android phone – install the app from Google Play