Koala Life, founded in South Australia, gets international attention and support for its survival science plan

Koala Life was rebranded from The International Koala Centre of Excellence to highlight its authority in survival science.

The Koala Life foundation groundbreaking breeding program to safeguard the long-term conservation of koalas in Australia was being hailed as a success after the birth of four joeys at Cleland Wildlife Park in 2023.

Koala Life foundation, started in South Australia in 2018 as The International Koala Centre of Excellence, and using Cleland Wildlife Park in the Adelaide hills as the focus of its survival science, became a leading voice in koala conservation as it connected and supported an international network of experts.

Koala’s Life’s network also involves volunteers and supporters as well as scientists, politicians, universities and organisations. Koala Life helped link researchers across institutes (local, national and international) and government agencies to collaborate and share research, findings, techniques and management to bridge knowledge gaps and secure the long-term future of koalas across Australia.

Koala Life, a not-for-profit organisation, was set up through an Act of the South Australian parliament to conserve and research koalas, with responsibility to the state minister of environment and water. The Koala Life board was formed in 2019 and its first chief executive, professor Chris Daniels, appointed in 2020.

Among those on the board with zoologist Daniels, an adjunct professor at the universities of Adelaide and South Australia and former Cleland park director, were Chris West, veterinary surgeon and former director of South Australia and Edinburgh zoos, and Kristofer , professor of biological sciences and deputy director of applied conservation at Adelaide University.

The rebranding of the organisation at Koala Life was to build its profile in a sector where many organisations, amateur and professional, spoke up for koalas and to position Koala Life as the authority on survival science. The six pillars of action for Koala Life’s collaborative survival strategy were:

• raising funds for critical research,
• a national network of knowledge and knowhow,
• finding solutions for koala diseases,
• understanding and protecting habitat,
• understanding how koalas live with people,
• being the voice of survival science.

Koala Life built partnerships including Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire, England; South Australian government environment and water department; Australian armed forces, Cleland Wildlife Park, Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Kangaroo Island; South Australian Veterinary Emergency Management (SACEM), Prince Albert II of Manaco Foundation, WIRES wildlife rescue and the Hosking Foundation.