Australia’s proposed koala haven faces logging threat
SydneyReuters Nestled in old eucalyptus forests in Australia’s New South Wales region, an estimated 15 per cent of the state’s dwindling koala population is set to win some protection from as early as 2025, but environmentalists say that might be too late. To shore up the habitat of these iconic Australian animals, the State Government […]
Australian koalas line up for chlamydia vaccine in new trial
Melbourne, AustraliaReuters About 400 Australian koalas will be vaccinated against chlamydia as part of a trial that researchers say they hope could play a significant role in the longer-term survival of the animals. Chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease also found in humans, has spread widely among Australian koalas, affecting half the animals in some areas. […]
Australia’s “black summer” bushfires killed or harmed more than 60,000 koalas – WWF
Sydney, AustraliaReuters More than 60,000 koalas were killed, injured or displaced in Australian bushfires last summer, the World Wide Fund for Nature has estimated, in what it called a deeply disturbing number for a species already in trouble. Last summer’s bushfires, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dubbed Australia’s “black summer”, also killed 33 people […]
From disease to bushfires, Australia’s iconic koalas face bleak future
Kanangra-Boyd National Park, New South Wales, AustraliaReuters At work, Morgan Philpott cares for sick children. In his off-hours the Australian paediatric nurse turns his attention to an equally defenceless group: unwell koalas. “They really run the risk of becoming extinct inside our lifetime,” Philpott said of the New South Wales koala population at an animal hospital […]
Dog called Bear leads fight to save koalas from Australian bushfires
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australian scientists are using sniffer dogs to rescue koalas struggling to survive damaging bushfires as they try to avoid a repeat of last year’s high death count of the native animals. Led by Bear, a border collie and Australian cattle dog cross, Detection Dogs for Conservation saved more than 100 koalas in the […]
Koalas may be extinct in Australia’s New South Wales by 2050
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Koalas in the Australian state of New South Wales could become extinct by 2050 unless the government immediately intervenes to protect them and their habitat, a parliamentary inquiry determined after a year-long inquiry. Land clearing for agriculture, urban development, mining and forestry had been the biggest factor in the fragmentation and loss of […]
How do koalas drink? Not the way you might think
Washington DC, USReuters Scientists have solved a lingering mystery about koala behavior – how these tree-dwelling marsupials native to Australia consume enough water to live. A new study describes koala drinking behavior in the wild for the first time, finding that they lick water running down the smooth surface of tree trunks during rainfall – […]