The response of rehabilitated koalas released into new habitat Jonathon Howard . School of Environmental and Information Sciences, Charles Sturt University, PO Box 789, Albury NSW 2640.
Koalas are the largest arboreal marsupial inhabiting the eucalypt forests of eastern Australia.
There has been much public concern about the conservation of this species. In response to this concern, several rehabilitation programs have been initiated. The ultimate goal of these programs are to rehabilitate sick or injured animals and release them back into the wild. Healthy koalas have successfully been re-introduced into many areas, but the success of releasing rehabilitated animals back into the wild has been rarely monitored. This study monitored the fate of sixteen koalas released back into a bushland site on the north-western outskirts of Brisbane.