LuLu

Origin of name:

Her mother is KiKi, her grandmother is YuYu and we thought it just fit. Also, there’s a great children’s book called Koala Lou, which we love.

Known since:

LuLu first emerged from KiKi’s pouch in early September 2018, which means she would have been born around late February-early March 2018.

Five weeks before that her mum KiKi was only seen close to Clancy, so we assume he is her father.

How often seen:

LuLu was seen 10 times in 2018 since she emerged in September.

Family:

LuLu has a thriving family living nearby. Her mother is KiKi, her grandmother is YuYu, she has a sister Kozo living nearby, and aunt CoCo and uncle Bobo still living near YuYu.

Neighbours:

She has just become independent so is still in her mother’s home range. Her near neighbours are Ngardang & Bunyip, Lakorra, Babarrang, Carninje and Pickle. Clancy, Gulkurguli and Jandamarra live close.

Interesting notes:

LuLu is KiKi’s second daughter. It will be interesting to see if she stays near her mother, like Pat did with Smoky and CoCo did with YuYu, or whether she leaves and travels far away, like her mother did.  So far LuLu seems to be staying fairly nearby, and has been seen a lot near her sister Kozo.

Survived extreme heat/drought catastrophes:

Only one year old, LuLu has already survived two extreme heat events.

2019: 4 January max temp: 46 degrees Celsius
2019: 25 January max temp: 46 degrees Celsius

How do we know all this about LuLu?

Echidna Walkabout’s Wild Koala Research Project has been monitoring the koalas of the You Yangs and Brisbane Ranges for 20 years. In 1998 we discovered a non-intrusive method of identifying koalas by their natural nose patterns. Since then we have been collecting data during tours, and using it to advocate for koalas, plant trees where they are most needed, and remove weeds to improve koala habitat.

All our tourists play an important part in this research, by making it possible through funding, and by looking out for koalas on our tours.

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