{"id":953168,"date":"2026-11-05T05:50:26","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T05:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/953168\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T05:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T05:50:26","slug":"koala-population-on-fringes-of-newcastle-could-be-chlamydia-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/953168\/","title":{"rendered":"Koala population on fringes of Newcastle could be chlamydia-free"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Daryn McKenny, the Sugarloaf-Stockrington State Conservation Area feels like his backyard.<\/p>\n

It was seven years ago that he first spotted a koala in this protected bushland, just a 35-minute drive from Newcastle’s CBD.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Daryn McKenny, Gamilaraay and Wiradjuri man, has been tracking koalas in the Sugarloaf-Stockrington Conservation area for over seven years. (Supplied: The University of Newcastle)<\/p>\n

Since then, Mr McKenny has spent hundreds of hours observing and tracking koalas in the area using discreet, motion-activated trail cameras attached to trees.<\/p>\n

The Gamilaraay and Wiradjuri man said walking on country was the key to spotting them.<\/p>\n

“I’ve spent years looking for all the food trees out there, then looking at the messages they give through the tracks and scratchings on them,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s about understanding the environment and the ecology from an Aboriginal lens.”\"A<\/p>\n

Daryn McKenny uses motion-activated trail cameras attached to trees to track koalas. (Supplied: The University of Newcastle)<\/p>\n

A secret population of koalas<\/p>\n

Mr McKenny’s observations prompted Ryan Witt, a conservation scientist at the University of Newcastle, to study the area.<\/p>\n

Since 2020, Dr Witt and his team, including Mr McKenny as Aboriginal lead, have spent more than 250 nights surveying koalas to monitor and track populations across 23,900 hectares.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ryan Witt began studying koalas in the Sugarloaf-Stockrington Conservation area in 2022. (ABC Newcastle: Laurise Dickson)<\/p>\n

“We fly thermal-imaging drones up and back, sort of like a lawnmower,” Dr Witt said.<\/p>\n

“We do this across consecutive nights to account for whether a koala is there on a particular night or not.”<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Ryan Witt (left) and Daryn McKenny.\u00a0 (Supplied: The University of Newcastle)<\/p>\n

In late 2025, the research team confirmed 292 koalas in the Sugarloaf-Stockrington area; however, drone surveys and modelling conducted in 2026 have revealed a much larger population.<\/p>\n

“We think we have around 2,300 potential koalas in this landscape,” Dr Witt said.<\/p>\n

“Given the fact that it is an urban population that has somehow survived on the edge of a major city, they seem to be thriving.”Loading…Koala population shows no evidence of chlamydia<\/p>\n

After noticing an influx of koala joeys on footage throughout 2026, Dr Witt turned his focus to the reproductive health of the Sugarloaf-Stockrington population.<\/p>\n

According to Wildlife Health Australia (2023),<\/a> the number of koalas infected with chlamydia can vary widely between wild populations, from zero to nearly 90 per cent.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Researchers have used drone technology to track koalas across the conservation area.\u00a0 (Supplied: Daryn McKenny)<\/p>\n

To test for the disease, University of Newcastle researchers used drones to locate koalas before collecting fresh scats.<\/p>\n

The koala scat, or poo, was preserved on dry ice and transported to specialist laboratories at the University of the Sunshine Coast <\/a>for genetic and disease testing.<\/p>\n

“We found 27 wild koalas without any evidence of chlamydia at the time of testing,” Dr Witt said.<\/p>\n

“The disease is really prevalent in New South Wales populations, so it’s pretty unusual.”\"Two<\/p>\n

Daryn McKenny and Ryan Witt track and monitor koalas across the reserve. (Supplied: The University of Newcastle\u00a0)<\/p>\n

A review of wildlife rescue and clinical records from the Lower Hunter region between October 2022 and September 2026 also found no evidence of chlamydia among a further 27 koalas within 30 kilometres of the Sugarloaf-Stockrington State Conservation area.<\/p>\n

Dr Witt said while his report’s findings <\/a>were encouraging, they also suggested low genetic diversity among the koalas.<\/p>\n

“We think they’ve been isolated from other populations for some time, which could be why they don’t appear to have any disease,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Monitoring a larger landscape will give us a better understanding of the genetics outside of the core group.”\"A<\/p>\n

Koala scats tested from the Sugarloaf-Stockrington State Conservation area are chlamydia-free.\u00a0 (Supplied: Daryn McKenny)<\/p>\n

Mark Krockenberger, a specialist veterinary pathologist at the University of Sydney, has studied infectious diseases in koalas for 20 years.<\/p>\n

He said only three koala populations in NSW appeared to be chlamydia-free.<\/p>\n

“In three years of sampling in southern Sydney, Kanangra-Boyd National Park and Narrandera in the Riverina, no disease was detected,” said Professor Krockenberger.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mark Krokenberger has been testing and monitoring koalas for disease in NSW. (Supplied: University of Sydney)<\/p>\n

“You can’t have 100 per cent say that the pocket near Newcastle is disease-free, but the genetic testing looks promising.”<\/p>\n

Professor Krockenberger says continued monitoring would give researchers a better picture of koala health in the Sugarloaf-Stockrington area.<\/p>\n

“Evidence supports that they are pushing out west of the Pacific Highway, which puts them at risk of contacting other populations with disease,” he said.<\/p>\n

“This does make it an area worthy of further study and conservation of koalas.”<\/p>\n

Calls to protect chlamydia-free koala population<\/p>\n

Dr Witt has submitted his research to the NSW government for consideration as part of the state’s Draft Koala Conservation strategy<\/a>, which sets out targeted actions to protect koalas and their habitat across the state.<\/p>\n

He has recommended increased habitat protection in the Sugarloaf-Stockrington area, installing wildlife exclusion fencing and establishing ongoing, long-term monitoring of this koala population, including longitudinal disease screening.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Researchers from the University of Newcastle will continue to monitor the Sugarloaf-Stockrington State Conservation area for koalas.\u00a0 (Supplied: Daryn McKenny\u00a0)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Daryn McKenny, the Sugarloaf-Stockrington State Conservation Area feels like his backyard. It was seven years ago that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":953169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[35269,64,63,21513,2929,21993,44946,2270,128,5431,520852,23229,338],"class_list":["post-953168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-aboriginal-culture","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-chlamydia","tag-conservation","tag-diseases","tag-koalas","tag-nature","tag-science","tag-scientific-research","tag-sugarloaf-stockrington-state-conservation-area","tag-university-of-newcastle","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=953168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/953169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=953168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=953168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=953168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}