Scientific American
Struggling Koalas Get Help from a Bold Breeding Program
Australia’s bushfires devastated koala populations, but a first-ever mix of capture and genetics could aid a marsupial comeback
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Koala named Frizzle from Taree, Australia, is treated for burns at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, Australia, on November 29, 2019. Volunteers from the Koala Hospital worked alongside National Parks and Wildlife Service crews searching for koalas after weeks of devastating bushfires across the nation’s states of New South Wales and Queensland. Credit: Nathan Edwards
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In November 2019, Lewis the koala instantly became a symbol of the tragic plight his species faces in Australia. Local residents found him limping along the hot pavement near Port Macquarie, desperate to escape flames of the Long Flat bushfire that were lining the road and turning his forest home to ash. The burned marsupial appeared disoriented, struggling to survive. G