A promising new and innovative “doggy door” is helping to prevent koalas from being hit by cars, Australia’s ABC News reports.
Because koalas’ habitat is usually close to roadways, finding a solution to keep the endangered species from getting hit by cars has become extremely important. An average of 300 koalas are killed on southeast Queensland’s roads each year — and even more are wounded.
Endeavor Veterinary Ecology (EVE) created Fauna Escape Hatches to allow the country’s favorite furry creatures to escape busy roads.
“The purpose of this Fauna Escape Hatch is to allow the animals that find themselves on road and rail corridors to get back in the bush,” EVE’s CEO Michael Hornby told the Moreton Bay Council about the invention. “It’s a one-way valve, and that was part of the important thing here. It couldn’t allow the animal to use that as an exit onto roadways, that would just sort of defeat the whole purpose.”
The Queensland city decided to trial 16 hatches along hotspots where roads ran through wildlife areas, and they set up cameras to see how well they worked. The results were nothing short of remarkable. After seeing koalas who reached the hatch make it through 100% of the time, the city agreed to purchase more — giving hope for the future of koalas in the region.
“City of Moreton Bay is one of the only local government areas in the country that has healthy urban koala populations,” Mayor Peter Flannery said. “We will continue to implement initiatives such as this hatch to protect our local wildlife including the iconic koala.”
Thanks to the overwhelmingly positive results, the hatches could expand well beyond Queensland. Hornby says they’re in talks to expand the trials to New South Wales and eventually beyond, a promising prospect that could significantly reduce koala fatalities on roads nationwide.
Lady Freethinker applauds EVE for creating such a unique invention to help keep koalas safe, as well as Moreton Bay for their proactive approach in becoming the first to trial the hatches and setting a positive example for others to follow.
