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Koala Bears Are Facing Their Biggest Threat Yet: Chlamydia
Amaze Lab
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12/30/2024
It’s no secret that koalas are in trouble. Their habitats, in their native land of Australia, are under threat due to wildfires and climate change, but experts say something else is destroying their populations even more dramatically.
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00:00
It's no secret that koalas are in trouble.
00:06
Their habitats in their native land of Australia are under threat due to wildfires and climate
00:11
change.
00:12
But experts say something else is destroying their populations even more dramatically.
00:16
That is a chlamydia epidemic, one that has come down like a deadly hammer, decimating
00:20
their numbers.
00:21
The illness starts with conjunctivitis, effectively blinding the animals before it moves to the
00:26
urinary and reproductive systems.
00:28
Authorities say their numbers are dwindling quickly, with koala populations declining
00:32
in some areas by as much as 80% in a single decade.
00:36
And while habitat destruction and wildfires are certainly a threat, Dr. Pine, who runs
00:40
a hospital where many koalas are treated, attributes most of their decline to the sexually
00:44
transmitted infection, telling BBC News, it's the chlamydia that's shot up tremendously,
00:49
almost exponentially, adding that some days he is forced to euthanize many of them.
00:54
With Dr. Pine saying that they used to see only a handful of sick koalas a year, now
00:58
they treat 400.
00:59
Luckily, a vaccine is part of that treatment, but it's expensive, with each jab costing
01:04
the facility around $4,500 US, and double that for capture and release.
01:10
Experts say the koala mortality rates dropped by two-thirds amongst those who are inoculated.
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