Disease poses threat to cuddly ‘friends’

Press, 31 October 1984, Page 45

Disease poses threat to cuddly ‘friends’

NZPA-Reuter Sydney The cuddly and gentle koala could become extinct in some areas unless a disease caused by a recently identified germ is controlled. Researchers at the University of Queensland have found that about 45 per cent of koalas have some form of disease which has caused the infertility and deaths of thousands of the tree-living marsupials. The Teddy Bear-like creatures are killed not only by the disease itself but also by dogs and cars and even from starvation because of blindness the bacteria causes, said Dr Frank Carrick.

“We have not found that the koala is about to become extinct but we have to find out what this (disease) is doing to the koala population,” he said.

Some researchers say the same disease decimated the koala population across Australia in the 1880 s. Wildlife experts have been encouraged by the findings of Steve Brown, a veterinary anatomist at the university, who recently identified the cause of the disease while studying the koala’s infertility. His research has linked four main diseases affecting koalas to a common cause. A bacterium known as chlamydia psittaci, probably introduced to Australia by European settlement through birds such as parrots, pigeons and chickens, cause the main diseases, Dr Carrick said. He said the disease might be sexually transmitted but no evidence existed as yet to confirm or refute this. It would take a few years to develop a vaccine to protect healthy animals.

Koalas are unique to Australia but it is not known how many there are on the huge land mass because noone has done a comprehensive survey, Dr Carrick said. The animal, which lives largely on eucalyptus leaves, is not easy to spot and estimates on numbers have ranged from 10,000 to more than 50,000. Researchers agree that it has become essential to provide koalas with adequate habitats for their protection. David Butcher, assistant director of Sydney’s Taronga zoo, has linked man’s clearing of the koala environment to the killer disease. “It is an infection usually associated with animals under stress. This means the stress of loss of habitat from the clearing of trees,” he said.