Foxes as predators of koalas

Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) have become one of the most opportunistic and persistent predators of koalas. Any koala on the ground can easily become a victim of these red foxes, which are stronger and faster than koalas. Furthermore, koalas also lack the agility to outfox red foxes. All these factors lead to one conclusion, i.e., koalas are an easy meal for the Australian red foxes, and foxes exploit such opportunities. This predation pressure has significantly impacted koala populations in areas where red foxes are prevalent. Consequently, conservation efforts have increasingly focused on controlling or eliminating fox populations to protect vulnerable koala communities.

Even though red foxes are widespread across Australia, the areas where koalas are vulnerable to predation by foxes include Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia. These areas have significant populations of koalas and also red foxes together. Similarly, red foxes have their presence in meager numbers in Queensland, the Kimberley, and Northern Territory regions of Australia. Again, these areas have koalas, and the presence of foxes makes them vulnerable. This widespread distribution of red foxes poses a continuous threat to the overall koala population.

Red Fox Distribution in Australia

Region	Distribution
Victoria	Widespread
New South Wales	Widespread
South Australia	Widespread
Queensland	Limited
Northern Territory	Limited

Recent evidence has also emerged that koalas on tall eucalyptus trees are not safe either. Several sources have mentioned the ability of the red foxes to climb as high as 4 meters on eucalyptus trees which is quite alarming. According to Valentina Mella from the University of Sydney, an eyewitness has confirmed foxes hunting for koalas on eucalyptus trees and surprisingly climbing between 2 meters to 4 meters high. They were regularly climbing and sniffing eucalyptus trees, where previously a koala had arrived to feed on eucalyptus leaves. Unlike European pine trees, eucalyptus leaves offer easy climbing for foxes. Some researchers argue that foxes might have come for waterholes but the evidence suggests otherwise.

In Australia foxes traditionally hunt rabbits but the ease of koala hunting has shifted their focus to koala hunting over rabbits. According to Euan Ritchie, a koala expert from the Deakin University of Victoria, when it comes to hunting rabbits, they always put up a great challenge to get caught. But koalas are an effortless catch for the red foxes. Similarly, any aging fox who cannot hunt rabbits will always prefer koala as an easy meal. Consequently, the introduction of the red foxes didn't entirely control rabbits but threatened many native animals such as koalas on the Australian continent.

Apart from koalas, red foxes have also disturbed and declined the population of other native animals on the Australian continent. These animals include greater bilbies, mallee fowls, eastern barred bandicoots, numbats, little penguins, etc. Therefore, foxes are making a multi-faceted impact on Australian fauna.

Red foxes also belong to one of the non-indigenous predator groups of koalas. They were not koala predators, as they never had their existence on the Australian continent. They were only introduced in Australia by the early European settlers about 150 years ago. At that time, their main objective was to get rid of rabbits, therefore foxes were introduced. But foxes started to expand throughout the Australian continent, and now they have become a big threat to koalas as soon as the predator and prey's territory has overlapped.

Complete Taxonomy of Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes)

Rank	Taxon
Domain	Eukaryota
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Carnivora
Family	Canidae
Genus	Vulpes
Species	Vulpes vulpes

References

1. Mella, V.S.A., Ward, S.J. and Banks, P.B., 2019. Predation by red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) at the urban fringe: Implications for the conservation of ground-nesting mammals. [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025].
2. New Scientist, 2017. Foxes seen climbing trees at night to track down and eat koalas. [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025].
3. Ritchie, E.G., Elmhagen, B., Glen, A.S., Letnic, M., Ludwig, G. and McDonald, R.A., 2012. Ecosystem restoration with teeth: What role for predators? [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025].
4. The Guardian, 2022. Elusive fox that threatened Phillip Island's little penguins caught after two-month hunt. [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025].
5. Wooster, E., Wallach, A.D. and Ramp, D., 2019. The wily and courageous red fox: Behavioural analysis of a mesopredator at resource points shared by an apex predator. [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025].