The reason for this article is because our industry has become smaller in every way. The income the koala industry could receive represents an untapped potential, which begs the question – how did the koala industry veer off course?
Why are we finding it so hard to maintain public interest in the koala within Australian culture? Despite both the captive and wild industries trying to keep them at the forefront of people's minds, the koala and other smaller marsupials are fading into the background.
Both sectors are struggling, and at the core of this struggle is our perception of the koala's ability to be active and work with society. We need to change this understanding, letting the koala work alongside us to make positive change.
The current setup of our zoning laws separates our living standards with those of our wildlife. Society living standards is increase but not he koala or the general wildlife, why can't we keep an equilibrium. Australian wildlife has no conscious understanding of how we live. They generally go about their day-to-day lives purely trying to stay alive and feed themselves in the built-up concrete jungle that we have constructed. Why can't we create a new Zoning law, that combine wildlife living with Society living, were if anything swings the balance towards our wildlife, where society itself are the one's restricted in their movements.
As society builds up, elements of nature within us become greedy (humanity). This tilts the balance of power, with nature fighting back through events such as global warming at a Marco level, where it's a different level on a micro level. And because society generally doesn't see it (it's not as confronting as an act of violence), we continue to live our lives. And we leave it up to the scientists and politicians to sort out.Which is not good enough!
I know that in my industry it is very hard to speak out or make changes, even in a small way. I am going about my work every day with some support, which comes from the unlikeliest place in society. It seems like people care to a degree, but then switch off. Why? They know that someone else will handle it, such as those specialists working with koalas. So, they feel better about themselves knowing that someone is addressing that 'other' part of the problem. But that hand-clap or a pat on the back is just window dressing, we need real change and that comes with real investment, in every sector of our community.
In the koala industry, knowledge is disappearing and with it, our opportunities for real change also disappear.
Why? As experienced people leave, they take with them a vacuum of knowledge. This is compounded by an invisible wall where increasingly younger staff advance up the order of command. If there is a social element to the role, the passion, responsibility and ability to make change decreases as turnover increases.
This is what has happened with the koala industry. It isn't expanding – it's shrinking, leaving an unsustainable bottleneck in the work culture. As this happens, the specialists that can advocate for change and think innovatively also decrease. The profession continues to weaken, making it harder to explain or educate in a new line of thought.
The Alternate Reality
I talk about how the koala industry (mainly the koala captivity industry) has changed so much that we are in an Alternate Reality. This is because the platform itself has changed. Newcomers who have recently entered the industry don't even know about this – and how can they? The industry doesn't stop to reflect.
The following is a high-level overview of steps, combined with examples, which older staff members in my industry would appreciate.
When I talk about Alternate Reality, I'm referring to a reality at present that is off-course in terms of how the zoological industry views the koala, the knowledge and experience is all reducing every year, This has a ripple effect throughout society, as society looks upon zoos for the latest information and expects their practices to be best practices, I can tell you right now, that this is not always the case.
Koala-related work represents one of the highest forms of manual labour. This is further increased when you add the farming and agricultural aspect, this is where their food preparation, has been heading for some time. Combined that with the specialist fieldwork this type of knowledge has become a specialize field, when sourcing different types of food given the season and temperature, there are significant skill levels and practical prevention work that can't be taught in a classroom.
And of course, this isn't including housing and husbandry work, I'm only talking about the dietary aspect first, where the experience of the dietitian connects to their behaviour with the varies degree of methods associate with the way you source the koala food and the way you set up their which combine that with space and enclosure design does determine koala activity levels. One department affects the other. These days, husbandry, dietary and enclosure design are all separate departments, there no holistic approach, even in a captive environment. Why, because the culture and stereotypical staff and society believe koalas sleep all day, which is not true!
Zoological institution has a narrow point of view and Zookeepers today are restricted like no other time in history. And it's only going to get worse, particularly as the management within both government and corporate zoos amend things to reduce their legal risks. This, in the end, affects the animals and their behaviour.
Over time (decades that is), the culture of personnel you are trying to attract and retain, end up leaving the industry. These are the people who love to get dirty, dig a hole in 40-degree heat, work well in the rain, and all the while maintain a high standard of workmanship. To attract those types of people is difficult today, unlike it was in the past. The vast majority have left the industry, for other trades where they can earn three times the salary.
This overall-weakens an industry does not improve it!
Our next Article: 42 Koala Numbers Around Australia
52 articles 4 themes 1 storywww.koalaretreat.com