. Earth Science News .
FLORA AND FAUNA
Hairy future for Australia's beloved koala
By Glenda KWEK
Port Macquarie, Australia (AFP) June 6, 2016


A sweet, sickly smell filled the air as Sherwood Robyn, a 12-year-old koala, was brought into a small examination room at Australia's first hospital for the furry marsupials.

From afar, she appeared in fine health. But closer inspection revealed a "wet bottom" -- a clear sign of the chlamydia infection which is ravaging Australia's iconic native animal.

With no available cure, Robyn, found on Sherwood Road and named in a nod to the famous outlaw, is already experiencing advanced stages of the sexually-transmitted disease and will likely die a painful death within months, vets say.

The spread and impact of the disease have been exacerbated by human development encroaching the animals' territory, Cheyne Flanagan, clinical director at the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, told AFP.

"It's driven by pressure on the animals, when there's a disturbed habitat... they're forced to live closer together, which gives us more interaction between the animals," she explained.

This causes the disease to spread rapidly, Flanagan added, saying that additional factors such as increased competition for territory and food can add to the problem.

The prognosis for Sherwood Robyn mirrors the dire outlook for koala populations on Australia's east coast as habitat loss, dog attacks, car strikes, climate change and disease take their toll.

While there were believed to be more than 10 million koalas before British settlers arrived in 1788, a 2012 national count placed their total numbers at around 330,000, though their existence in treetops makes accurate assessment difficult.

In parts of Queensland, koalas are "effectively extinct" a recent study by the state university found. In New South Wales the marsupial's overall numbers have plunged more than 30 percent since 1990. Both regions -- along with the Australian Capital Territory -- have listed the animal as "vulnerable" to extinction.

"I'm not optimistic at all," said Damien Higgins, head of the Koala Health Hub at the University of Sydney, assessing the animal's long term prospects for survival.

"Ultimately, the pressures acting against koalas are not going away. Development is continuing... and while people want to live where koalas live... and mine where koalas live, they're going to be in trouble," he told AFP.

Chlamydia has been in koala populations for some time and can cause blindness, infertility and death. It is different to the human strain of the disease: The latest research suggests it could have first spread to the marsupials from livestock brought by early European settlers to Australia.

But increased human development on koala territory has exacerbated the impact of the disease in recent years.

- 'Death by a thousand cuts' -

The Koala Hospital was established in the coastal town of Port Macquarie in 1973. But there has been a marked shift in those being treated in recent years.

Flanagan says she now sees mainly older marsupials and that admission numbers have dramatically fallen -- suggesting populations are dying out.

She believes the changes are caused by habitat loss as trees are felled to make way for urban development, describing the impact on koalas as "death by a thousand cuts".

Due to this land clearance, young koalas are driven further afield to search out suitable sites to set up home, making them vulnerable to vehicle strikes and animal attacks, said hospital coordinator Mick Feeney.

The animal famously only eat leaves from a narrow range of the eucalyptus gum tree species -- limiting its food supply and adding to its woes.

"It's not an easy issue to deal with in an area where there is a great deal of growth," Port Macquarie-Hastings Mayor Peter Besseling told AFP.

"People want to move to the coast and we need to look at ways in which we can protect the koala into the long-term," he added.

Researchers at the University of Sydney, who have collaborated closely with the Koala Hospital for decades, are working hard to mitigate the challenges facing koalas by studying the diseases they succumb to.

"The other aspect is damage control. Once things like development are happening, (it's about) trying to somehow reduce the impact on koalas," Higgins said.

"It's a band-aid in a way, to try and keep the populations as healthy as we can."


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
FLORA AND FAUNA
Genetic switch that turned moths black also colors butterflies
Cambridge, UK (SPX) Jun 06, 2016
The same gene that enables tropical butterflies to mimic each other's bright and colourful patterning also caused British moths to turn black amid the grime of the industrial revolution, researchers have found. Writing in the journal Nature, a team of researchers led by academics at the Universities of Cambridge and Sheffield, report that a fast-evolving gene known as "cortex" appears to play a ... read more


FLORA AND FAUNA
Thousands flee Sri Lanka ammunition depot explosions

Sri Lankan monks hold prayers for buried landslide victims

Ecuador needs $3.3 bn to rebuild from quake: government

Signals detected from EgyptAir black box

FLORA AND FAUNA
Calculating the mechanics of a rough sphere

Microsoft wants Windows to open into mixed reality

Believe the hype? How virtual reality could change your life

Mantis shrimp inspires next generation of ultra-strong materials

FLORA AND FAUNA
To fight lionfish invasion, Cuba learns to cook them

Water yields from southern Appalachian watersheds in decline since the 1970s

Hydropower dams worldwide cause continued species extinction

World's first grid-connected tidal array almost complete

FLORA AND FAUNA
Nepal seeks to drain giant glacial lake near Everest

Antarctic coastline images reveal 4 decades of ice loss to ocean

USGS assesses carbon potential of Alaska lands

Bee populations expanded during global warming after the last Ice Age

FLORA AND FAUNA
Study links irrigation to inaccurate climate perception

EU proposes temporary approval of weedkiller glyphosate

Ecologists advise an increase in prescribed grassland burning to maintain ecosystem

Honeybees pick up pesticides from non-crop plants, too

FLORA AND FAUNA
Scientists gain supervolcano insights from Wyoming granite

Paris floods ease but alerts in France's north

France and Germany battle deadly floods

Paris museums on alert as flood chaos hits France, Germany

FLORA AND FAUNA
Chinese UN peacekeeper, 3 civilians die in Mali attacks

Things will get bloody, Nigerian militant group says

DR Congo denies getting pistols from North Korea

Senegal's child beggars show limits of 'apptivism'

FLORA AND FAUNA
Dogs were domesticated not once, but twice

Study: Neanderthals occupied caves earlier than thought

Space-age exploration for pre-historic bones

Remains of rice and mung beans help solve a Madagascan mystery









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.