Biodiversity impacts of the 2019-2020 Australian megafires.

With large wildfires becoming more frequent, we must rapidly learn how megafires impact biodiversity to prioritize mitigation and improve policy. A key challenge is to discover how interactions among fire-regime components, drought and land tenure shape wildfire impacts. The globally unprecedented 2019-2020 Australian megafires burnt more than 10 million hectares, prompting major investment in biodiversity monitoring.

Hot climate, hot koalas: the role of weather, behaviour and disease on thermoregulation.

Thermoregulation is critical for endotherms living in hot, dry conditions, and maintaining optimal core body temperature () in a changing climate is an increasingly challenging task for mammals. Koalas () have evolved physiological and behavioural strategies to maintain homeostasis and regulate their but are thought to be vulnerable to prolonged heat. We investigated how weather, behaviour and disease influence for wild, free-living koalas during summer in north-west New South Wales.

Health Assessments of Koalas after Wildfire: A Temporal Comparison of Rehabilitated and Non-Rescued Resident Individuals.

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.

Prevalence of cryptococcal antigenemia and nasal colonization in a free-ranging koala population.

Cryptococcosis, caused by environmental fungi in the Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii species complexes, affects a variety of hosts, including koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). Cryptococcal antigenemia and nasal colonization are well characterized in captive koalas, but free-ranging populations have not been studied systematically. Free-ranging koalas (181) from the Liverpool Plains region of New South Wales, Australia, were tested for cryptococcal antigenemia (lateral flow immunoassay) and nasal colonization (bird seed agar culture).

Anaphylactic shock following the bite of a wild Kayan slow loris (Nycticebus kayan): implications for slow loris conservation.

Background: Asian slow lorises (Nycticebus spp.) are one of few known venomous mammals, yet until now only one published case report has documented the impact of their venomous bite on humans. We describe the reaction of a patient to the bite of a subadult Nycticebus kayan, which occurred in the Mulu District of Sarawak in 2012.