Exciting Times at Koala Conservation Australia

September 5, 2024

Spring is here, the weather is warming and we are blossoming! We are bursting with excitement to share some incredible projects we have coming to fruition in the next few months! And it's so appropriate that we let you know as we kick off Save the Koala Month in September.

Koala Hospital Port Macquarie

From Monday 16 September we will be introducing a new visitor experience at the Koala Hospital Port Macquarie, which will include the introduction of an entry fee.

As we sit here in 2024, evidence shows that koalas face the very real threat of being completely extinct within the next 25 years, unless we take strong and decisive action. While we have enjoyed more than 50 years of being a free attraction for the community, we recognise that in order to continue to rescue and rehabilitate koalas, sponsor scientific research and advocate for koalas, we need to find more ways to raise vital funds.

We are a not for profit charity, unfunded by government, and we run on the currency of kindness with a passionate and active volunteer workforce of over 200 people.

During the earlier months of this year we surveyed visitors to the Koala Hospital to determine what they would be prepared to invest for the intimate, up close experience that the Koala Hospital provides. The response was overwhelmingly in favour of the introduction of an entry fee (more than 83% of those surveyed) and re-affirmed the importance of the work we are doing, and just how evident that is to the community.

We have worked hard to keep the price point low, and to ensure it’s accessible, especially to our incredible, supportive local community. There will be a specific ‘locals’ price point and we will schedule in ‘special days’ where seniors or children can come for free (children under 4 will be free anyway!)

Alongside the work we are doing to enhance our visitor experience, our retail store has undergone a revamp and has transformed into a koala giftshop that will showcase local artisans and locally made, sustainable goods. We have an incredible artistic community in the local area and we want to ensure we can promote their work, especially to tourists and visitors to the region.

Our Guiding Volunteers will be providing daily koala talks and – as they always do – ensuring that our visitors leave feeling well informed and connected to the experience. We welcome more than 100,000 visitors a year from all over the world and we know that the personal interaction we offer is an important part of the overall experience.

From early 2025, and after the opening of our Wild Koala Breeding Program and Visitor Centre at Guulabaa, the Koala Hospital will close for redevelopment. This redevelopment is designed to take the hospital well into the future and to ensure we can continue the vital work we do for koalas and their survival as a species.

Wild Koala Breeding Program and Visitor Centre - Guulabaa - Place of Koala

In addition to all the exciting changes at the Koala Hospital, we are also thrilled to let you know that we are very, very close now to opening our new Wild Koala Breeding Program Visitor Centre at Guulabaa – Place of Koala.

This world first Wild Koala Breeding Program is essential if we are to halt the path to extinction and save our local koalas. We currently have 6 beautiful, healthy koalas admitted into this rigorous scientific program that aims to ensure genetic diversity for the future.

Our facility at Guulabaa is truly a centre built by community. It would not have been possible without the response received during the Black Summer Bushfires that saw the Koala Hospital raise a whopping $7.9M via a GoFundMe set up for our benefit. Donations came to us from all over the world and given the disastrous effects of the bushfires on wildlife, it was quickly obvious that we needed to channel the funds to saving the species for generations to come.

And we have done what we said we would do.

From late 2024 our purpose built facility will be open to the public and join WildNets, Hello Koala and Bunyah Land Council on site at Forestry Corporation NSW's Guulabaa – Place of Koala, in the Cowarra State Forest, creating a truly unique nature-based cultural, educational and active tourist experience.

We have a lot of work to do if we hope to save koalas, but we are as committed as all of our passionate community, volunteers, staff, donors and sponsors.