Management actions designed to mitigate development or anthropogenic impacts on species of conservation concern are often implemented without quantifying the benefit to the species. It is often unclear what combinations and intensities of management actions are required to achieve meaningful conservation outcomes. We investigate whether disease and predator control can reverse population declines of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). Based on longitudinal monitoring of the epidemiological and demographic status of over 500 animals over 4 years, coupled with an intensive disease and predator management programme, we use survival analyses to estimate annual age‐specific survival rates and population growth, and simulations to quantify the benefit of these actions. Predation and disease accounted for 63% and 29% of mortality, respectively, across all years, with wild dog (dingoes or dingo‐hybrids: Canis dingo, C. dingo × Canis familiaris), carpet pythons (Morelia spilota) and domestic dogs (C. familiaris) accounting for 82%, 14% and 4% of confirmed predation mortalities, respectively. In the first 2 years, before disease and dog control had major impact, the population was declining rapidly with annual growth rates of 0.66 and 0.90. In the third and fourth years, after interventions had been fully implemented, the population growth rate had increased to 1.08 and 1.20. The intrinsic survival rate of joeys was 71.2% (excluding deaths resulting from the death of the mother). Adult survival rates varied as a function of sex, age and year. Even in a declining koala population, management actions can achieve meaningful conservation outcomes (population growth rates greater than one). However, benefits may be short‐lived in the absence of longer term strategies to manage threats. This work also identifies wild dogs as a major threat to koalas, highlighting the need to better understand how wild dog impacts vary in space and time. Policy implications. Offsetting policy that addresses habitat loss alone may achieve little or no meaningful benefit to declining koalas populations. Management must address suites of threats affecting these populations and ensure that the cumulative effects of these actions achieve positive population growth rates.

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Falconiformes are active searchers and hunters that require visual precision to catch their prey and survive in the wild. Despite this, ocular disease is likely to be underdiagnosed in these species, at least in part because of limited proven diagnostic methods and lack of published scientific data. Tear film deficiency is recognized as an important ocular surface disease in dogs but has not been well evaluated in birds. To evaluate the phenol red thread (PRT) tear test as an alternative method to the Schirmer tear test (STT) for determining tear production in Falconiformes, we assessed the PRT tear test twice for each eye in 21 birds from the genus Falco. The mean PRT test values for the right (OD) and left (OS) eyes were OD=30.2±4.6 mm/15 s and OS=29.1±3.7 mm/15 s, with an overall PRT test value for both eyes (OU) of 30.6±4.2 mm/15 s. Good reproducibility was seen with the PRT test as shown by the strong positive correlation between the first and second tests in the birds. The PRT test method provides repeatable results that are easy to obtain, easy to read, and achieved under the same conditions as the STT.