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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