An analysis of the long-term trends in the records of Friends of the Koala in north-east New South Wales: II. Post-release survival
Daniel Lunney
A B C * , Holly Cope D , Indrie Sonawane A , Eleanor Stalenberg E and Ron Haering A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Planning and Environment, Locked Bag 5022, Parramatta, NSW 2124, Australia.
B Faculty of Science, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
C Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia.
D Faculty of Science, Sydney School of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
E Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
Pacific Conservation Biology 29(3) 197-222 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC21077
Submitted: 25 November 2021 Accepted: 6 March 2022 Published: 1 April 2022
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
Context: Post-release monitoring of rehabilitated koalas is lacking, meaning that the long-term success rate is unknown.
Aims: We addressed the question: will a koala released from rehabilitation re-join the wild population and survive for months, if not years?
Methods: Using ear tag records as unique identifiers of individual koalas, we sifted the 31-year set of 5051 koala admission records (1989–2020) of a koala rehabilitation group, Friends of the Koala, in Lismore, north-east New South Wales for records of koalas that had returned to rehabilitation for a second, third or fourth time.
Key results: Of the 1771 koalas that were released, most (80%) had a coloured ear tag with a unique number. Of these koalas, 270 were admitted to rehabilitation two or more times and therefore represented an opportunity for post-release monitoring. Re-admission figures mostly fitted the pattern of first admissions, meaning that the released koalas had become part of the local koala population. Of the 270 koalas that were re-admitted into rehabilitation, 66% remained for more than 6 months in the wild, and 33% remained in the wild for more than 2 years.
Conclusions: We conclude that rehabilitated and released koalas can survive in the wild long-term, even though some koalas were re-admitted after a very brief period post-release.
Implications: The success of rehabilitation and release, as judged by re-admitted tagged koalas, is a more robust view of success for koala survival after rehabilitation than simply the proportion of released versus non-released koalas.
Keywords: chlamydia, dingoes, disease, dog attack, ear tags, fire, long-term study, motor vehicle strike, north-east NSW, Phascolarctos cinereus, roadkill, wildlife carers, wildlife rehabilitation.
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