Jackaroo’s Journey
Posted at 10:16 am July 20, 2007 by Fred Bercovitch
There was a koala named Jackaroo,
Lots of his friends live in the Zoo;
But he lived on St. Bees,
Where he gave loud calls from the trees,
And now he is gone. Boo-hoo!!
Jackaroo was one of our best study subjects in Australia (see blog: Koala Field Project: Meet Jackaroo). I use the word “was” because he is no longer with us. Earlier this year, he pulled a fast one on us and wandered away from his usual range (see blog: Island Koalas Keep Us Guessing). After some extensive efforts, our team managed to locate him quite a distance from his favorite place. But we don’t know why he wandered away. Later he returned to his beloved trees overlooking Homestead Bay (pictured). But the thrill of having him return was followed by sadness when he died soon afterwards.
Jackaroo was one of over 100 koalas who are feeding us with lots of data. He has made important contributions to our conservation science work. He and other koalas have taught us that koalas spend a lot of time in nonfood trees, that males can sometimes create quite a racket at night when they call out for females, that koalas can move long distances in a short time, especially when searching for mates, that koala mothers carry their joeys with them until they are nearly half of their weight, and that males who are more stinky during the mating season might be able to attract more females. One of our research team’s fondest memories was the night that Jackaroo climbed down from a tree, walked right past Jen Tobey as she was recording bellows, checked her out, paused to rub his chest on a tree (to scent mark), and then continued walking into the darkness.
We will miss our furry friend, but he lives on in our memories and in the world of koala research. Jackaroo gave us a wonderful way to connect with koalas in the wild and we hope that we can return the favor by helping to develop conservation management plans in Australia that will promote the survival of his joeys and their friends. Jackaroo was one cooool dude!!
Fred Bercovitch is the associate director of behavioral biology for the San Diego Zoo.
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July 20th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Thanks, Fred, for the update, albeit sad news, about Jackaroo. Do you have any clues as to why he died? Is it possible he left because of a fight or predator and that weakened him significantly enough that he died shortly after his return to his home territory? He sure had a beautiful and peaceful looking place to call home.
What are the predators for adult Koalas? I don’t think I have ever read much about their potential enemies or challenges other than disease, lack of food, and man.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:58 am
Hi Margaret,
We wish that we knew why Jackaroo died, but we do not. We also don’t know exactly how long koalas live in the wild, but a good guess is that an older koala is at least ten years of age, and we have a hunch that Jackaroo was over eight years old. We’re not sure how most adult koalas die, but we do know that young joeys can be preyed upon by wedgetailed eagles and pythons. The eagles are Australia’s largest bird of prey, with a wingspan of around seven feet! Unfortunately, the biggest threat to koalas nowadays are people; koalas are often killed while slowly walking across a road. The koalas have no idea how dangerous a car can be, so sometimes they are hit by speeding drivers. They are also sometimes killed by pet dogs; when they come to the ground to move from tree to tree in some neighborhoods, dogs attack the koalas. And fires are not only dangerous to koalas, but to other Australian wildlife and to people. Many areas in Australia now are a tinderbox because of an extensive drought, so some of the koalas’ favorite places to live are going up in flames. But we are entering a new breeding season on St. Bees Island and should see some new joeys soon! So stay tuned and we will keep you up to date about our koala work in Australia and at the San Diego Zoo.