‘BOROBI’ PLAN BADLY NEEDED

WHEN Borobi was unveiled as the official mascot for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, the character was met with almost universal acclaim.

Few could imagine a better advertisement for the Coast than the cheery blue marsupial, whose frequent appearance with a surfboard in hand allows him to neatly represent the best of both our beach and bush.

But behind the slick marketing lies an uncomfortable truth – that while we have made Borobi an icon of our city, our koala population is in desperate peril.

Figures from the Currumbin Wildlife hospital revealed in this newspaper last week paint a sobering picture. While a mere 25 marsupials passed through its doors in 2007, last year the number was 2016. This year they predict they will see more than 500.

It is clear that the development of the Gold Coast, so much of it driven by the welcome boost brought by the Games, has come at some cost to our native wildlife.

It is therefore most appropriate that the bodies responsible for the Games – council, state government and organisers GOLDOC – are backing in a plan to help our local koala population.

The mooted ‘Borobi Reserve’ would be a valuable legacy project to leave future generations, another reason to remember with pride the Gold Coast Games.