Koalas in Danger

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Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid.

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And I’m Mike Procter. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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“Ruby still sleeps in the basket. She sleeps with her soft plaything. She likes to have both hands and feet holding something when she is lifted. Do you want to hold her?”

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Diedre de Villiers is talking about a baby. But Ruby is not a human baby. She is a small furry animal – a koala. De Villiers is a koala researcher. She is caring for Ruby. De Villiers rescued Ruby from the mouth of a dog. And Ruby is sick. De Villiers will care for her until she is healthy. Then Ruby will be able to live in the trees with other wild koalas. Today’s Spotlight is on these koalas.

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People often call koalas “koala bears.” A koala does look like a small size bear. Like a bear, it is covered with grey hair or fur. It has large ears, wide eyes and a long black nose. A koala has a round furry body like a bear. But a koala is not a bear – it is a marsupial.

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Marsupials are animals that have a special way to carry their newborn babies. They have a pouch. The fur on their stomach can open to hold something – a bit like a bag. The koala mother carries her new baby in this pouch. This makes it easier for her to climb trees. Koalas spend most of their lives up in a tree. They eat tree leaves. Koalas particularly like the shiny, dark leaves of the eucalyptus tree.

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Eucalyptus trees grow in Eastern Australia. This is the home of the koalas too. Around the year 1800, Europeans settled in Australia. At this time, there were probably millions of koalas in Eastern Australia. The number is much smaller now. The Australian Koala Foundation says there are only about forty to eighty thousand koalas left. This sounds like a big number. However, koalas are in serious danger.

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The human population of Australia is growing. As people build more roads and houses, they cut down eucalyptus trees. But the koalas need these trees to survive. Trees provide shelter, food and safety for the koalas. Humans also build fences, drive vehicles and own dogs. These things can all be dangerous to a koala. Diedre de Villiers tells National Geographic:  “Koalas are getting caught in fences and dying. They are killed by dogs and hit by vehicles. They are even dying from simple things – like a person who cuts down several eucalyptus trees around his house.”

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People also bring something else that harms koalas – disease. Koalas can die from human disease. It causes another problem too. Disease can change their behaviour. It can make koalas fight each other. Diseases can also make koalas unable to produce babies. This is a big problem because the number of koalas is shrinking. Many people are worried that soon there may be no koalas at all.

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Joel Sartore is a photographer for National Geographic Magazine. He is very famous for his pictures of rare or endangered animals. He visited Eastern Australia to take pictures of koalas. Sartore took one particularly difficult picture. It was a picture of all the koalas that had died in one area during one week. The picture shows the bodies of thirteen koalas. Sartore tells National Geographic about it:

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“I knew I had to get a picture of dead koalas for this story. But I kept having trouble. People at the animal clinic I was working with said it would look bad. The Australian government does not even like to say that these koalas are endangered. But the workers at one place I visited thought this was an important picture to make. They told me that in this area these animals will be completely gone in three to five years. They want the world to know that.”

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The koala has many enemies such as disease, dogs and people cutting down trees. But koalas have many friends too. Many people are working to protect the koalas from danger. People like Deidre de Villiers take care of hurt koalas. Some people even work with koalas in their own houses.

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Samantha Longman is one of these people. She takes care of koala babies. She is like their mother! The baby koalas climb on her. They depend on her. She tells National Geographic about this work:

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“It does not leave me much time for anything else! But the little creatures are part of our family. What we are doing is important.”

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Some people work with the government to protect land and trees. The Australian Koala Foundation, or AKF, is asking the government to use more land as natural park areas. These parks would be a good place for koalas to live. The AKF would also like the government to create laws to protect koalas. They want to stop people from cutting down eucalyptus trees. Without eucalyptus trees, the koalas can not survive. The AKF website explains:

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“Eighty percent of the land that koalas live on is on privately owned. It is often farmland – not in national parks. This is why the AKF wants a law that will prevent people from cutting down trees on their land. We want a law to encourage people to protect and manage the land where koalas live.”

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There is another way de Villiers works to protect koalas. She watches wild koalas. This way she can learn how the koalas are doing. She studies their health. And she studies the population growth of koalas in the area.

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Humans have caused many problems for koalas in Australia. But de Villiers says that people and koalas can live together. People can make some changes that would help the koalas. They can drive more slowly. They can make sure that there are enough eucalyptus trees for the koalas to live in and eat.

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On one trip de Villiers studied Tee Vee – a koala she had watched for over a year.  To her surprise, de Villiers discovered Tee Vee had a young baby in her pouch. De Villiers shared her excited reaction with National Geographic:

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“While there are still healthy babies, there is still hope.”

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The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find our programmes on the internet at www.radioenglish.net. This programme is called ‘Koalas in Danger.’

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You can also get our programmes delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

Question:

Have you ever seen a koala?  Have you ever held a koala?  What is your favourite animal?