Koala Fecal Sampling Protocol

Pellets were collected from Cleland captive koalas (n = 4) and Kangaroo Island koalas (rescued wild koalas, n = 3) housed at the Cleland Wildlife Park (34°58′01.5″S, 138°41′49.0″E) in the Adelaide Hills, SA, Australia (Table 1). The koalas were housed individually for the duration of the study, as they were being kept isolated during testing for koala retrovirus and Chlamydia. Between April and May 2020, freshly defecated faecal pellets were collected every 3 to 4 days for a period of one month into 5 mL tubes and immediately stored in a −20 °C freezer (Table S2). All koalas were supplied with branches of a range of eucalypt species daily, primarily including river red gum (E. camaldulensis), manna gum (E. viminalis), and South Australian blue gum (E. leucoxylon) (Table S2). Cleland sampling was conducted with University of Adelaide Animal Ethics Committee Approval S-2016-169 and Department for Environment and Water scientific permit Y26054.