World as Muse: It’s Not Easy Being Grey

It’s a real trip for me that this sign is on our street, five doors down from our house. We chose this town for its surfing beach, but I was thrilled when I learned that the area is fringed by a gorgeous national park - - and is actually known for its koala population. I have yet to see another sign like this on a quiet residential street such as ours. I'm just amazed that a koala could be hanging around in a tree here, and it means that I can’t help myself from always looking up, in the hopes of seeing one. Then I started to do some research, and learned that Noosa’s koalas have been absolutely decimated over the last few decades.

This sign is commonly seen on local roadways

Information seems to be really inconsistent. By some counts, there are only 11 koalas left in Noosa National Park. Other sources predicted that by 2010 the population would be extinct. It seems impossible to believe, especially since M. met a guy the other day who saw one in the woods near here.

Whatever the exact details may be, it is clear that the population is in deep trouble. The major issues? Deforestation due to development, dog attacks, road accidents, and chlamydia. Say what? Koalas already live a bizarre life, spending 18-20 hours of their day sleeping, and most of their few waking hours getting high on eucalyptus leaves. They can then find time to be naughty?

From what I have read, disease is part of the koala’s natural history. It is uncertain how the chlamydia bacterium originally infected the koala. Some theories hold that it may have been transmitted by infected mammals that were introduced to the area over the last
40 000 years, while some suggest that the species may have come in contact with it during its evolutionary period. Chlamydia is transmitted at birth, during mating, and potentially during fights. In koalas, it manifests as conjunctivitis (an eye infection that can lead to blindness), pneumonia and other respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, and infections of the reproductive systems which can then lead to infertility. Beyond chlamydia, koalas are threatened by Koala retrovirus, which causes Koala Immune Deficiency Syndrome (KIDS), an immunodeficiency just like AIDS. Oh, and they can get lymphoma, leukemia and skin cancer. Could this possibly be a sadder story?

When koala populations are under stress and fighting for resources disease becomes more prevalent. As the population weakens, breeding becomes more and more difficult. In some areas, the infertility rate is reported to be 50% or higher. And this is how a species becomes extinct.

It seems like koala conservation is a hotly debated topic here in Oz, since in some areas (where populations have been relocated to new areas), overpopulation is an issue. There is strong advocacy for them, and the government has invested money into researching retrovirus, retrofitting roads that are known to be dangerous, and in protecting swaths of habitat. But the developers and new roads and ultimately; let's call a spade a spade-- people -- continue to be the biggest problem.

Even though these little dudes have claws like knives, and are apparently quite vicious at times, there’s just something about them. Save the koalas!!