Find many more articles on koala issues at Open for Debate – Koalas

Another study of koalas’ genetics has been published but a key result flowing from this research was not clearly identified by the authors. Mutation rate estimate and population genomic analysis reveals decline of koalas prior to human arrival | Molecular Biology and Evolution | Oxford Academic

They stated:

“Our results suggest that koala populations had already declined before the arrival of Europeans, which is consistent with evidence that populations were relatively small at the time of first European settlement. However, population declines associated with a booming fur trade in the 18^th and 19^th centuries are well documented across all three states, particularly in Victoria, and are not well reflected in our results or those inferred previously.”

The crashes in unsustainably high numbers of koalas, consequent to the Federation Drought but attributed to shooting for pelts, didn’t cause genetic bottlenecks. Numbers were reduced to natural levels and koalas persisted, virtually invisible, in their natural habitat of dense forests.

For example, their persistence at Wadbilliga was confirmed by sound surveys in 1997 – A playback survey of the koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, and a review of its distribution in the Eden Region of south-eastern New South Wales | Semantic Scholar – and recently Indigenous-led conservation confirms return of guraban (koala) across Wadbilliga National Park: Firesticks I Australian Rural & Regional News, whereas National Parks and Wildlife Service, on the basis of mail-out surveys, declared them extinct by 1999.

Related story: Koala numbers crashed across Australia 100,000 years ago. Global glacial cycles are likely to blame
Find many more articles on koala issues at Open for Debate – Koalas