Health Assessments of Koalas after Wildfire: A Temporal Comparison of Rehabilitated and Non-Rescued Resident Individuals.
Animals (Basel)
; 13(18)2023 Sep 09.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37760263
ABSTRACT
Many koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) required rehabilitation after the 2019/20 Australian megafires. Little is known about how the post-release health of rehabilitated koalas compares to non-rescued resident koalas. We evaluated health parameters in rehabilitated koalas and resident koalas in burnt and unburnt habitat in southern New South Wales, Australia. Health checks were undertaken within six weeks of fire (rehabilitated group), 5-9 months post-fire and 12-16 months post-fire. Body condition improved significantly over time in rehabilitated koalas, with similar condition between all groups at 12-16 months. Rehabilitated koalas therefore gained body condition at similar rates to koalas who remained and survived in the wild. The prevalence of Chlamydia pecorum was also similar between groups and timepoints, suggesting wildfire and rehabilitation did not exacerbate disease in this population. While there was some variation in measured serum biochemistry and haematology parameters between groups and timepoints, most were within normal reference ranges. Our findings show that koalas were generally healthy at the time of release and when recaptured nine months later. Landscapes in the Monaro region exhibiting a mosaic of burn severity can support koalas, and rehabilitated koala health is not compromised by returning them to burnt habitats 4-6 months post-fire.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Risk_factors_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
Animals (Basel)
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Australia