Koala Bears Are Facing Their Biggest Threat Yet: Chlamydia

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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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00:00It's no secret that koalas are in trouble.

00:06Their habitats in their native land of Australia are under threat due to wildfires and climate

00:11change.

00:12But experts say something else is destroying their populations even more dramatically.

00:16That is a chlamydia epidemic, one that has come down like a deadly hammer, decimating

00:20their numbers.

00:21The illness starts with conjunctivitis, effectively blinding the animals before it moves to the

00:26urinary and reproductive systems.

00:28Authorities say their numbers are dwindling quickly, with koala populations declining

00:32in some areas by as much as 80% in a single decade.

00:36And while habitat destruction and wildfires are certainly a threat, Dr. Pine, who runs

00:40a hospital where many koalas are treated, attributes most of their decline to the sexually

00:44transmitted infection, telling BBC News, it's the chlamydia that's shot up tremendously,

00:49almost exponentially, adding that some days he is forced to euthanize many of them.

00:54With Dr. Pine saying that they used to see only a handful of sick koalas a year, now

00:58they treat 400.

00:59Luckily, a vaccine is part of that treatment, but it's expensive, with each jab costing

01:04the facility around $4,500 US, and double that for capture and release.

01:10Experts say the koala mortality rates dropped by two-thirds amongst those who are inoculated.

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