Sunday 23 June 2019

Koala drinking stations can reduce impact of climate change



Expert calls for urgent action to conserve iconic Australian species
Date:  June 5, 2019
Source:  University of Sydney
A long-held view that koalas get all their hydration from eating leaves has been overturned by new research published today from Dr Valentina Mella and colleagues at the University of Sydney.
The study in PLOS ONE offers hope in the fight to conserve this threatened species, with researchers finding that koalas will regularly use artificial water stations, particularly during hot and dry conditions.
"Drinking stations could help koalas during heat and drought events and might help mitigate the effects of climate change," said Dr Mella from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences.
Dr Mella also said drinking stations could prove a useful strategy to support other arboreal folivores such as gliders and possums in Australia and sloths, lemurs and some monkeys on other continents.
Koala populations along Australia's east coast have been declining due to lost habitat from deforestation, diseases such as chlamydia, attacks from feral animals, fire and vehicle collisions.
The Australian Department of Environment estimates that combined koala populations in Queensland and New South Wales declined from 326,400 in 1990 to 188,000 in 2010, a drop of 42 percent.



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