Veterinary practitioners can contribute to koala conservation through the NSW Koala Strategy by providing koala genetic samples to the Australian Museum Koala Tissue Biobank.

These samples will be used for important genetic analysis to help optimise conservation initiatives such as captive breeding and repopulating habitat.

Samples collected from sick or injured free-living koalas for clinical purposes can be submitted to the Australian Museum. This could include surplus blood from routine haematology or serum biochemistry sampling, tissue samples collected as part of routine post-mortem investigations and tissue biopsies following ear tag placement.

If you would like to contribute koala genetic samples, please refer to the sampling instructions Protocol in the Appendix of the Code of Practice for Injured, Sick and Orphaned Koalas.

Please note the Australian Museum is now requesting blood and tissue samples only. A Deed Form will need to accompany the samples which can be provided on request.

The Biobank currently holds material from over 1950 koalas and continues to grow, with regular donations from veterinarians, volunteer wildlife rehabilitators and researchers across Australia.

Ongoing sampling across helps improve understanding of population structure and functional genetic diversity in surviving koala populations across eastern and southern Australia. The collection of samples forms part of the Australia Museum’s Koala Genome Project.

Please contact Shona Lorigan from the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment on 8275 1854 or shona.lorigan@environment.nsw.gov.au for further information, a copy of the deed form and sample bags.