Koala Research

Meet ... JoFrank

update 6 August 2006: We are so pleased as we are seeing a bit of JoFrank who is back in his home area and looking very well.

Bushfire update 16 March 2006: We haven't seen JoFrank in the last month since he has released but as the bush has few green trees many of the Koalas are moving around in search of good food. We are monitoring the area and will keep watching for him.

Bushfire update 6 February 2006: JoFrank was found very close to a busy road and rescued. He was declared 100% fit and released back into his normal range. We will continue to watch out for him but his prospects seem good.

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We first met him, that we know of, in January 2003, and have seen him a few times every year since then. His community includes Fran, Yobbo and some other koalas we haven't named.

He is named for a young boy in the US who had some troubles with his heart (we took his aunties out on tour) - and as koalas have such strong arms and big chests for climbing, we felt that JoFrank could give young Joseph Francis some help!

This handsome man has become a regular summer visitor to Fran's area. Like summer tourists, some male koalas seem to converge on an attractive region - in this case it is not because of the climate, but because of the number of girls around! (But then, some humans probably travel for the same reasons!)

JoFrank is quite a mature fella. He has small eyes and ears, quite normal in male koalas, but quite long shaggy fur for a guy. He is always quite curious about us, so we suspect that his winter home is far away from humans, and that seeing us is fascinating! Maybe he comes over to his summer home just to watch the people! We do bring some cruise ship groups in at that time, and from high up in a tree, we must look pretty funny to a koala!

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