Abstract
A CENSUS of koalas on Phillip Island, Victoria, was taken this year with the aid of school–children, and, we are informed by Sir James Barrett, the count shows a record population of 590, a natural increase of thirty–nine over the number shown after the census of July 1939. Many Eucalyptus viminalis and red gum, on which the animals feed, are being planted. The koalas are now confined to the eastern fringe of the Australian mainland, from southern Queensland to Victoria. They used to be present in South Australia, but, apart from some imported from Victoria and maintained in sanctuaries, it is doubtful if there are any there now. According to Wild Life, the Australian nature magazine, the combined Victorian population is somewhere between 900 and 1,100 individuals. This compares very unfavourably with the number of koala pelts marketed during 1920 and 1921, namely, 205,679.
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Koalas in Australia. Nature 148, 590 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/148590c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/148590c0