Photo by John Llewelyn
Koalas are one of the most recognised symbols of Australian wildlife. But the tree-living marsupial koala is not doing well throughout much of its range in eastern Australia. Ranging as far north as Cairns in Queensland, to as far west as Kangaroo Island in South Australia, the koala’s biggest threats today are undeniably deforestation, road kill, dog attacks, disease, and climate change.
With increasing drought, heatwaves, and fire intensity and frequency arising from the climate emergency, it is likely that koala populations and habitats will continue to decline throughout most of their current range.
But what was the distribution of koalas before humans arrived in Australia? Were they always a zoological feature of only the eastern regions?
The answer is a resounding ‘no’ — the fossil record reveal a much more complicated story.
ConservationBytes.com 