Cattle as Predators of Koalas

Cattle to some extent are also one of the predators of koalas. However, they do not eat koalas after killing them. Cattle, i.e., cows, oxen, and calves, in Australia, are either causing life-threatening injuries to koalas or simply killing them. Land encroachment and habitat loss are the two big reasons for koala casualties from cattle. Koalas switch eucalyptus trees occasionally for fresh eucalyptus foliage. During this switching process, they sometimes pass through cattle paddocks and that's when the deadly interaction starts.

Rural areas of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria are the main regions in Australia where cattle-koala incidents occur. Statistics indicate that koala casualties due to cattle remain at 0.55 percent to 0.80 (hospital reports). According to the Queensland Wildlife Hospital statistics 72 koalas died (1997 to 2019) due to cattle attacks. Similarly, 59 death cases (2007 to 2019) of koalas were reported in Wildlife Victoria Hospital. The death rate of koalas due to cattle injuries is also very high. One study also found that 75 percent of koalas died in hospitals that suffered cattle injuries. Moreover, these are just the reported cases, there is a bigger worry that there might be more cases that remain unreported.

Koala Casualties and Death Statistics

Statistic	Value
Casualties	0.44 to 0.80 Percent
Koala Deaths (1997 - 2019)	72
Koala Deaths (2007 - 2019, Victoria Hospital)	59
Koala Death Rate	75 Percent

Koalas brought to the hospitals due to cattle attacks usually suffer from multiple fractures, head injuries, and abdomen injuries. Even though a koala may visibly look okay after exposure to cattle, he may not be okay and might need a visit to the hospital. Koalas have very thick fur, and spotting an injury always remains challenging without medical scanning or diagnosis equipment. According to experts, sometimes it is just a little scratch that is enough to kill a koala.

In one of the incidents from rural Queensland, a koala was first spotted among a herd of cows. The cows seemed to only sniff the koala and didn't show any sign of aggression. Later, the koala climbed the tree for safety. Even though the koala looked visibly okay on the tree, the owner decided to call rescue services because she presumed cows might have injured the koala a bit. When the emergency services arrived and they shifted the koala to the hospital, they found multiple fractures from being trampled. Those fractures were so severe, that the hospital had no choice but to euthanize that koala.

Cattle are non-indigenous predators of koalas. Cattle don't kill koalas for eating. Instead, they kill koalas when they feel threatened, scared, or territorial. Some people argue that cattle think of koalas as dogs and are usually afraid of them. However, the hospital data shows that this can't be true in most cases. Koalas on the other hand are not very well aware of the cattle threats. Due to this reason, they approach cattle and get trampled.

References

1. Jiang, A.Z., Tribe, A., Phillips, C.J., & Murray, P.J., 2022. Insights from koala-cattle interaction experiments: Koalas and cattle may see each other as a disturbance. Animals, 12(7), p.872.
2. Bachmann, N.L., Fraser, T.A., Bertelli, C., Jelocnik, M., Gillett, A., Funnell, O., Flanagan, C., Myers, G.S., Timms, P., & Polkinghorne, A., 2014. Comparative genomics of koala, cattle and sheep strains of Chlamydia pecorum. BMC Genomics, 15, pp.1-14.
3. Hill, A., Keogh, S., & Anderson, B., 2019. Case study: Cattle-associated traumatic injuries in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), 2010-2016. Wildlife Rehabilitation Medicine, 39, pp.11-15.
4. Jiang, A., Tribe, A., Phillips, C.J., & Murray, P.J., 2021. Do livestock injure and kill koalas? Insights from wildlife hospital and rescue group admissions and an online survey of livestock-koala conflicts. Animals, 11(9), p.2684.