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. 2024 Jul 15;13(7):523.
doi: 10.3390/biology13070523.

The Utility of the Koala Scat: A Scoping Review

Stephen D Johnston  1   2 , Lyndal Hulse  1   2 , Tamara Keeley  1 , Albano Mucci  1 , Jennifer Seddon  2   3 , Sam Maynard  4
Affiliations

The Utility of the Koala Scat: A Scoping Review

Stephen D Johnston et al. Biology (Basel). .

Abstract

The use of samples or scats to provide important ecological, genetic, disease and physiology details on free-range populations is gaining popularity as an alternative non-invasive methodology. Koala populations in SE Queensland and NSW have recently been listed as endangered and continue to face anthropomorphic and stochastic environmental impacts that could potentially lead to their extinction. This scoping review examines the current and potential utility of the koala scat to contribute data relevant to the assessment of koala conservation status and decision making. Although we demonstrate that there is great potential for this methodology in providing details for both individual wild animal and population biology (distribution, abundance, sex ratio, immigration/emigration, genetic diversity, evolutionary significant unit, disease epidemiology, nutrition, reproductive status and stress physiology), the calibre of this information is likely to be a function of the quality of the scat that is sampled.

Keywords: Phascolarctos cinereus; ecology; genetics; hormone metabolites; koala; methods; non-invasive; scat.

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Conflict of interest statement

Sam Maynard is employed by Saunders Havill Group. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The “power” of koala poo—the information that is available from a koala scat.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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