By NOEL MURPHY
THEY might spend most of the day asleep, pee on unwitting tourists and spook campers with their their night-time grunting but koalas are a much-loved Aussie icon that needs protecting.
That’s certainly the view of children’s author Melinda King whose new book, Koala Clancy of the You Yangs, is aimed at raising awareness of the troubles facing koalas.
The book follows the drama as Koala Clancy leaves his mum and travels to a new bush home in the weed-infested You Yangs.
Luckily for Clancy, tourists from around the world arrive to remove weeds and make his home healthy.
“I hope that the next generations can get an understanding from a young age of what they can do to keep koalas in the wild forever,” Melinda told the Independent.
Melinda is an Aboriginal guide, koala researcher, author and a wildlife educator. Her interest in koalas started early, at 12, when she started researching them in the Brisbane Ranges and You Yangs.
Now 26, she is one of Australia’s youngest but most-experienced koala field researchers and works for wildlife tourism operator Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours.
Echidna Walkabout has published her book as part of its Make a Home for Koala Clancy conservation project.
“It heralds the start of a local and international education program about conservation of our native species,” said Echidna Walkabout’s Janine Duffy.
