As blue gum plantations in Victoria were cut down, it was overcrowded in nearby forests and increased the risk of injury and death during bushfires.

Data show that an estimated 42,500 koalas live in the blue rubber plantation in southwestern Victoria. Harvest 8,000 to 10,000 hectares of plantations each year, leaving thousands homeless.

Scientists say displaced animals cross the roads used by logging trucks. They kept the road, and the nearby forests moved into the trees and would soon peel them off. Some moved to adjacent plantations until they were deported again the following year.

"It's a very stressful situation for koalas," said Desley Wherisson, an ecologist at Deakin University. "The blue glue plantations are cut and those rivers have to find somewhere to go."

She said that depending on the density and logging scale of artificial plantations, it may be displaced annually due to plantation harvests.

Kuras is listed as endangered in the NSW, Queensland and the Australian capital region, but in southwestern Victoria and South Australia, there are not enough trees to maintain the koala population.

CSIRO estimates that the national koala population is between 224,000 and 524,000.

Weisen said koalas displaced from blue gum plantations are increasing the already high density in nearby trees and forests and contribute to the decline of nearby local vegetation such as Manna Gum. Excessive deficiencies, especially combined with drought or fires, can ultimately lead to welfare issues – mass hunger and death – land managers and wildlife care workers stay to cope with the consequences.

A licensed koala shelter operator in the Southwest said she said she helped up to 450 patients or injured animals a year. She said the displaced animals are sometimes lifted in trees that have been cut down and eventually broken, or are orphans left behind. Others were attacked by cattle or dogs.

She said some koalas freeze under the lights of logging trucks while crossing the road. "The number of roads killed is terrible," the caregiver said. "They have been in a huge forest all their lives.

A study of reported wild koala deaths in southeast Queensland found that vehicles caused about half (1,431) of deaths.

The Victorian government released its koala strategy in May 2023. It details the koala welfare issues related to plantations, but does not focus on long-term solutions.

"There is currently no cost-effective management technology acceptable for communities that can be accepted by the community, or have clear goals to manage koalas in blue glue plantations," the strategy said.

The Victorian Department of Environment said it is working with animal welfare groups and experts to ensure the sustainability of the koala population and has invested $3.3 million in koala management and research.

A spokesman told The Guardian: "Victoria is fortunate to have a large koala population, but in some populations do face threats such as disease, climate change and genetic diversity."

Dr Kita Ashman, an ecologist at WWF Australia, said that since its inception in the 1990s and 2000s, plantations have profoundly changed the landscape.

The blue gum leaves provide a nutrient-rich food source that makes the animals much higher than normal, but no one properly handles these consequences. She said that any animal observed during harvest around any animal is required to obtain a permit before disturbing koala, with koala finding and retaining at least nine trees, but it has little responsibility to consider the fate of displaced animals.

“We are basically planting this plantation and then koala and then entering, eating, breeding,” she said.

But Ashman said the answer should not get rid of plantations, as they are important alternatives to the local forest logging industry.

Wesson said it was a "evil issue" and could get worse. But she said there are solutions on the scale of the landscape that can improve the situation. These include the Blue Gum Industry, with a portion of each plantation for koalas to stay or contribute to the restoration of permanent habitat. They can also provide support for wildlife care workers and animal hospitals.

In the long run, the industry could consider growing an alternative tree species that is not as good as blue gum for Koalas, she said.

Dr. Rolf Schlagloth, a koalas ecologist at Central Queensland University, said somewhere on the way for Koalas is a “solvable problem.”

“The real problem is the lack of connectivity (in nature) and the inability to properly manage koala habitats,” he said.

Schlagloth said all stakeholders need to be involved in finding solutions, and state and federal governments need to admit their mistakes, which will require tremendous efforts and funding to address these issues.

“We need open, honest discussions to ensure our koala (flagship species) is saved,” he said.