A Dungog ecologist says more needs to be done to protect the koala population from domestic and feral dogs and cats as a nationwide decline in the native animal continues.
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Bushfires and habitat destruction are drivers of the recent drop in population however much of the damage to the species had begun long before, according to local ecologist Bill Dowling.
"The koala population has never been what it was. If you go back through early history the koala population was much greater than what it is now in the mid 1800s to the 1920s," Mr Dowling said.
"The number of pelts that were handed in to depots, there wasn't just ten, or dozens but hundreds or thousands on an annual basis."
The life-long Dungog resident has been involved in numerous ecology projects throughout his lifetime, from his involvement with State Forests and his work with the Dungog common as an environmentalist and ecologist.
There are a lot of things that people and organisations do that they don't realise have an impact on koalas, according to Mr Dowling.
"If there's a narrow road with trees along both sides of it and legally they have to widen the road, they take out some of the trees and it's causing problems," Mr Dowling said.
"It's not always obvious to us but it is to the koala population."
Actions such as the rezoning of land can result in the removal of trees which further impacts populations, according to Mr Dowling. One example of this can be found on the way to Stroud from Dungog.
"There's an area there if you had seen it 10 years ago, it was pretty thickly vegetated," Mr Dowling said.
"It's just been completely cleared now. I don't see any koalas there now."
The ecologist sees first hand the impact such decisions have on koalas.
"It's depressing really when you know that a lot of the actions that have been taken weren't necessary and could have been changed slightly to make them more acceptable for the animals," he said.
However, in the Dungog common the issue isn't to do with habitat destruction rather the impact of domestic dogs and cats, according to Mr Dowling.
"People take them out in the common and they see a koala or smell it and they'll attack the animal and kill them or stress them out," Mr Dowling said.
"We encourage and suggest they be on leashes but it's difficult to enforce."
Mr Dowling is encouraging people to report all sightings of koalas to National Parks and Wildlife with an accurate time of sighting. Reporting will help keep an accurate record of numbers.
