Group wants to start Tinana Teddies koala-spotting tours
THE Fraser Coast could soon welcome visitors who come to see koalas in their natural habitat.
Small business, manufacturing and service industry spokesman Chris Loft will meet with some of the group behind the venture on Thursday.
He said specifics were still being worked out but the idea was to take advantage of nature and lure people in from the Bruce Hwy.
He said it would not involve a sanctuary or fences but rather people tagging along with a local familiar with the environment and with spotting koalas around Tinana.
"It's to take people on a tour of koalas in Tinana," Cr Loft said.
"The idea is to drag them off the highway and show them where the koalas live in their natural environment.
"It's a coup - it's called Tinana Teddies."
The project is the result of the council working with some of the region's conservation groups to protect Tinana's koala population.
The business opportunity follows the announcement of another product of the meetings: a koala information and education kit that is being developed by the Fraser Coast Regional Council.
The Koala Consultative Committee aims to have the information kit developed and printed within six months.
It will help landowners and tenants live with koalas through planting preferred food trees and protecting against attacks from domestic pets.
Other plans include having a koala habitat corridor, a koala-tracking database on public websites and trying to gain funding for some of these programs from the State Government.
The group will also look at treating koalas for disease and illness before releasing them, according to a council report.