Lane Murraya R, Lowe Arianne, Vukcevic Jelena, Clark Robert G, Madani George, Higgins Damien P, Silver Luke, Belov Katherine, Hogg Carolyn J, Marsh Karen J
Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
Stromlo Veterinary Services, P.O. Box 3963, Weston, ACT 2611, Australia.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Sep 9;13(18):2863. doi: 10.3390/ani13182863.
Many koalas () 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 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.
在2019/20年澳大利亚特大火灾之后，许多考拉需要康复治疗。对于康复后的考拉放归后的健康状况与未获救的本地考拉相比情况如何，人们知之甚少。我们评估了澳大利亚新南威尔士州南部烧毁和未烧毁栖息地中康复考拉和本地考拉的健康参数。在火灾发生后的六周内（康复组）、火灾后5 - 9个月以及火灾后12 - 16个月进行了健康检查。康复考拉的身体状况随时间显著改善，在12 - 16个月时所有组的状况相似。因此，康复考拉的身体状况恢复速度与留在野外并存活下来的考拉相似。各组之间以及不同时间点的患病率也相似，这表明野火和康复治疗并未加剧该种群的疾病。虽然各组之间以及不同时间点在测量的血清生化和血液学参数上存在一些差异，但大多数都在正常参考范围内。我们的研究结果表明，考拉在放归时以及九个月后再次捕获时总体健康。莫纳罗地区呈现出不同火烧严重程度镶嵌格局的景观能够支持考拉生存，并且在火灾后4 - 6个月将康复考拉放归到烧毁的栖息地不会损害它们的健康。
