Wildlife translocations are gaining acceptance as a valuable conservation tool for threatened Australian fauna. The 2019–2020 bushfire crisis has significantly affected koala habitat across four states, and translocations, when properly implemented, could facilitate the demographic and genetic recovery of affected populations. Current translocation policies lack an appropriate spatial framework to guide conservation actions and this could lead to unexpected or undesirable outcomes with the potential to hinder population recovery. To address these concerns, we propose development of a spatial framework based on knowledge of population genetic structure and population-specific dispersal patterns estimated from molecular data. At an operational level, application of a spatial genetic framework obviates the need to specify restrictive translocation limits, reduces reliance on subjective interpretations of population structure, and provides the potential to improve translocation success and conservation outcomes. We strongly encourage implementation of a spatial genetic framework and its integration into the decision-making process for selection and prioritisation of release sites for translocated koalas by wildlife carers, researchers and wildlife managers. The proposed framework would also support koala conservation and management more broadly.

野生动物易位已被接受为澳大利亚受威胁动物的宝贵保护工具。2019–2020年的丛林大火危机已严重影响了四个州的考拉栖息地，如果实施得当，易位可促进受影响人口的人口和基因恢复。当前的易位政策缺乏适当的空间框架来指导保护行动，这可能导致意想不到的或不良的结果，并有可能阻碍人口的恢复。为了解决这些问题，我们建议根据人口遗传结构和根据分子数据估算的特定人群扩散模式的知识，开发一种空间框架。在运营层面，空间遗传框架的应用消除了指定限制性易位限制的需要，减少了对种群结构的主观解释的依赖，并提供了提高易位成功率和保护成果的潜力。我们强烈鼓励实施空间遗传框架，并将其整合到决策过程中，以选择野生动植物护理者，研究人员和野生动植物管理者为迁移的无尾熊释放地点进行选择并确定其优先级。拟议的框架还将更广泛地支持考拉的保护和管理。我们强烈鼓励实施空间遗传框架，并将其整合到决策过程中，以选择野生动植物护理者，研究人员和野生动植物管理者为迁移的无尾熊释放地点进行选择并确定其优先级。拟议的框架还将更广泛地支持考拉的保护和管理。我们强烈鼓励实施空间遗传框架并将其整合到决策过程中，以选择野生动植物护理者，研究人员和野生动植物管理者为迁移的考拉释放地点选择优先次序。拟议的框架还将更广泛地支持考拉的保护和管理。