Wemba
Origin of name:
Wemba is named for the Wemba-wemba Aboriginal People of northern Victoria. Our former chief Koala Researcher, Melinda, is descended from the Wemba Wemba. Melinda and her family have been influential throughout Echidna Walkabout’s history.
Known since:
She was first seen as a young mature female koala on 20 November 2014
How often seen:
Koala Wemba was seen on 12 research/tour days in 2017. In 2018 she was seen more – over 33 times. In 2019 she was seen 31 times. This is quite a common pattern for koalas that move into our research area – they become increasingly confident with us over time and we see them more often.
This is quite a common pattern for koalas that move into our research area – they become increasingly confident with us over time and stop avoiding us.
Family:
Wemba is a healthy breeding female. She has had five joeys in five years: Wemberi (m) born 2016; Burdungul (m?) born 2017, Djaki (Balit-djak) (m) born 2018, Yeera (f) born in 2019 and an unnamed joey (m) in 2020. All, except Yeera and the new joey, are probably sired by Winberry. Mabo is likely to be Yeera’s & the new joey’s father.
Neighbours:
Wemba’s home range overlaps with males Mabo and Winberry. Her nearest neighbours are females Kozo and Djadja
Media Appearances:
How do we know all this about Wemba?
Our Wild Koala Research Project has been monitoring the koalas of the You Yangs and Brisbane Ranges for 20 years, using our non-intrusive method of nose pattern identification. Koala Researchers are employed on +/- 310 days per year to find, photograph and take notes on the koalas. Proceeds from the Koalas & Kangaroos IN THE WILD tour, Sunset Koalas & Kangaroos and 3 day Great Ocean Road tours support this research, and these tours visit these koalas.
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