Drivers told to paws and think of road risk to koalas

Then she gently holds the stricken marsupial's paw in her hand.

If she is unable to save a koala's life, Ms Egermann takes a photograph of its little paw in her outstretched palm as a way to memorialise another lost from the endangered species.

"They mattered; it's not just humans that matter to me, it's animals."

The charity that operates the Northern Rivers Koala Hospital in Lismore, northern NSW, has been busy in recent months rescuing and rehabilitating koalas hit by cars.

A total of 58 car strikes have been reported in the region in 2025.

As summer holidays coincide with the koala breeding season, the organisation is warning drivers across Australia to look out for the native animals on the move.

Road users should be alert, observe wildlife warning signs and avoid distractions, Ms Egermann said.

"I see so many drivers that are distracted ... or doing something on their phones while they're driving," she said.

"Distraction is often a big factor of animals getting hit."

Conservation groups focus on endangered populations in NSW, Queensland and Victoria between August and February, when adults search for mates and older joeys leave their mothers.

Alpha males were particularly vulnerable as they patrolled an expanded territory or responded to other males' calls, Ms Egermann said.

"They also follow each other's smells, so if one crosses the road, another one would potentially follow," she said.

"It's always a bit of a lottery, will they make it across the road or not?"

The destruction of habitat was also increasing the movement of koalas, she said.

The charity urged drivers to slow down near koala habitats, avoid driving at high-risk times like dawn and dusk, use high-beam lights when safe and have contact details of wildlife rescue organisations handy.

Research released in late October found that though there are measures known to make roads safer for wildlife, those optional design standards were often overlooked.

Wildlife could be protected through underpasses, canopy bridges and exclusion fencing but their construction was usually left to the discretion of budget-conscious developers.

With an estimated 10 million native animals killed on Australian roads each year, the Griffith University-led analysis called for biodiversity to be at the core of infrastructure planning.