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 18th and 19th 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
It is now easy to see wild koalas in Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane. They weren’t seen in any areas when first occupied by Europeans, because they were confined to dense forests where they lived at very low densities. There are now many more across a much wider area. Their endangered listing is a farce. These genetic studies are irrelevant to the non-issue of koala conservation and the real issue of koala welfare. The ecological history of koalas since European arrival should guide active management of healthy forests with few, healthy and safe koalas.
https://connectsci.au/wr/article-abstract/44/7/471/40796/Ecological-history-of-the-koala-and-implications?redirectedFrom=fulltext