A koala on St. Bees Island
Use of GPS Collars to Monitor Habitat Use in Australian Koalas
Koalas are a flagship species around the world. The San Diego Zoo maintains the largest breeding colony of koalas outside of Australia that serves as a foundation for our current research on mate choice in females. Embarking on a Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellowship field study of the reproductive and population ecology of koalas is a natural extension of the CRES Behavioral Biology Division’s study in captivity and will help to establish a more solid scientific understanding of how proximate physiological factors and foraging strategies influence reproductive success in the wild, assist the Australian scientific community in designing conservation management plans, raise public awareness of the plight of the koalas by promoting ties between the Zoo's collection and field research, enhance the genetic profile of the San Diego Zoo colony, and document factors regulating koala distribution and abundance in Australia.
The specific aim of this project is to place GPS collars on koalas. The target population is on St. Bees Island, where extensive mapping of koala habitat use is a parallel component of this project. Koala habitat conservation can best be achieved using conservation management plans that identify not only why specific trees and regions are used by koalas, but also by examining home range use and shifts over time. GPS collars provide detailed information about the location of koalas around the clock. In an interactive learning opportunity, satellite information will be made available online to interested parties who can then track koala movements in space and time.
More
