Queensland’s koalas are set to be vaccinated against chlamydia, a debilitating bacterial infection that could infect their eyes and render them blind.
Chlamydia—a common sexually transmitted infection in people—is one of the leading causes of death of koalas, with about 20 percent of koalas in Brisbane contracting the disease. Other leading killers of koalas are car strikes and dog attacks.
“It can be quite a painful death,” said Sean Fitzgibbon, an ecologist from the University of Queensland.
“Their eyes can become so inflamed from the chlamydia that they close over … it also affects their bladder, it makes the bladder wall really thick so they become incontinent.”
Professor Joerg Henning from the University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science said there were 943 chlamydia-related koala deaths from 2018 to 2023.
According to Wildlife Health Australia, some signs of infection include inflamed eyes, brownish staining, and wet fur around the rump (wet bottom), adding that the reproductive disease is often asymptomatic.
Meanwhile, a study published in the Journal of Virology revealed that a virus in the same family as the HIV could be the main factor behind the spread of chlamydia in koalas.
Although chlamydia can sometimes be treated for captive koalas, Mr. Fitzgibbon said it would take the koalas a long time to recover.
In Queensland, koalas are mainly concentrated in South East Queensland where they now compete for space with a rapidly growing human population.
The initiative to give koalas a shot against the deadly disease is part of a two-year pilot program by scientists from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
“We all want the same thing, a healthy koala population that is growing,” QUT School of Biomedical Science professor Ken Beagley said.
“After habitat destruction, dog attacks and car strikes, disease is the next most pressing issue for koalas and chlamydia is a major problem.”
The move came after the Queensland government unveiled five new projects to protect the health of koalas in November 2023.
The investment is part of the federal government’s $76.9 million Saving Koalas Fund to support the recovery and long-term conservation of the animal and its habitats.
Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said he wanted Brisbane to be the “koala capital of Australia.”
“To do this we must invest in our wildlife,” he said, adding that the council was developing plans to reintroduce koalas into bushland areas across the city.
He said koala populations have been increasing at Wacol in Brisbane’s west after being reintroduced to a bushland area known as Pooh Corner.
“There was no evidence of koalas there for many years,” he said.
“We took some of the koalas that had been rescued from elsewhere in Brisbane, from very urban environments that were quite dangerous to be putting koalas back into.”
“We’ve re-established a small population there and hope that it will continue to grow.”
AAP contributed to this report.
