The recent approval by Australia\u2019s veterinary medicine regulator means the vaccine can now be used in wildlife hospitals, veterinary clinics and in the field to protect the nation\u2019s most at-risk koalas, Timms said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
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A koala sits in a tree at a koala park in Sydney, Australia. – AP Photo\/Mark Baker, File <\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew a single-dose vaccine, with no need for a booster, was the answer to reducing the rapid, devastating spread of this disease, which accounts for as much as half of koala deaths across all wild populations in Australia,\u201d Timms said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
\u201cSome individual colonies are edging closer to local extinction every day, particularly in southeast Queensland and New South Wales, where infection rates within populations are often around 50 per cent and in some cases can reach as high as 70 per cent,\u201d Timms added.<\/p>\n
Is chlamydia really the problem for koalas?<\/p>\n
Deborah Tabart, chair of the conservation charity Australian Koala Foundation, said resources being spent on vaccinating koalas should be redirected to saving koala habitat.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the risk of sounding flippant, how can anyone be so delusional as to think that you can vaccinate 100,000 animals? It\u2019s just ridiculous,\u201d Tabart said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Tabart\u2019s foundation estimates there are fewer than 100,000 koalas in the wild. The government-backed National Koala Monitoring Program estimated last year that there were between 224,000 and 524,000 koalas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI accept that chlamydia is an issue for koalas, but I also want people to understand that they\u2019re sick because they haven\u2019t got any habitat,\u201d Tabart said.<\/p>\n
The Queensland Conservation Council, an umbrella organisation for more than 50 environmental groups across the state, welcomed the vaccine. But the council’s director, Dave Copeman, echoed Tabart\u2019s focus on preserving koala habitat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really good news. Chlamydia is one of the key stresses<\/a> that has been putting pressure on koala populations,\u201d Copeman said.<\/p>\n \u201cKoalas were at risk before chlamydia outbreaks, and they will remain at risk even if we manage chlamydia perfectly, because we keep on destroying their habitat,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n How could a vaccine help Australia’s koalas?<\/p>\n
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