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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Thousands of people have signed a petition for koalas to be introduced to New Zealand to escape Australia’s devastating bush fires, but the proposal has been given the thumbs down by officials. A group calling itself the Koala Relocation Society said koalas were “functionally extinct in Australia” but could thrive in New Zealand which has nearly 30,000 hectares planted in eucalypts. There have been estimates of up to a billion […]
by Glenda KWEK Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — At least half of Australia’s only disease-free koala population, a key “insurance” for the species’ future, is feared dead with more badly hurt after bush-fires swept through an island sanctuary, rescuers said Sunday. Kangaroo Island, a popular nature-based tourist attraction off the coast of South Australia state, is home to many wild populations of native animals including the much-loved koala, where the populated was estimated at […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An online fundraiser for koalas injured in devastating bushfires topped Aus$1 million ($680,000) on Thursday, making it Australia’s biggest campaign on the GoFundMe platform this year. Deadly bushfires have ravaged vast swathes of eastern Australia, and wildlife carers estimate the blazes have killed hundreds of koalas this month in New South Wales state alone. A crowdfunding page set up by the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital to provide automatic water drinking stations […]
Washington, United States (AFP) — Scientists in Australia have discovered how to save starving koalas whose fussy eating habits make them vulnerable to habitat loss: by feeding them poo. A team of researchers used fecal transplants in the form of orally ingested capsules to alter the microbes in the marsupials’ guts, thus allowing them to eat a wider range of eucalypts. Their work was described in a study published in the journal Animal Microbiome on […]
by Mariëtte Le Roux © Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Australia’s iconic koala, its very existence imperilled by disease, bushfires, car strikes, and dog attacks, faces a more hopeful future thanks to scientists cracking its genetic code, a study said Monday. A mammoth effort by more than 50 researchers in seven countries uncovered 26,558 koala genes, yielding vital DNA clues for vaccines against diseases such as sexually transmitted chlamydia, which blinds the cuddly critters […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A dead koala has been found screwed to a pole in Australia in a “sickening” act that sparked outrage Thursday on social media. Koala Rescue Queensland (KRQ) responded to a report of one of the furry animals climbing a picnic shelter at Brooloo Park Lookout near Gympie, 175 kilometers (around 100 miles) north of Brisbane, on Wednesday. But on closer inspection, it was found to be dead and screwed in place. […]
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) — Thirty kilometers (18.6 miles) south of the outback New South Wales town center of Gunnedah, semi-retired farmer Robert Frend is hoping to save an Australian icon, the koala, from dying of thirst. The marsupials are known to get their water from chewing on eucalyptus leaves. But in 2009, 25 per cent of the koala population in Gunnedah – the self-proclaimed “koala capital of the world” was lost due to a heatwave. […]
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) –Zookeepers at Sydney’s iconic Taronga Zoo welcomed the arrival of a seven-month-old male koala joey on Friday (December 23), who emerged from his mother’s pouch two days before the holiday. The second joey to be born to mother Sydney, the yet-to-be named joey will spend another three to four month with her before going it alone, Taronga Zoo said in a statement. “It’s a bit hot inside that pouch on steamy summer […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian police uncovered a baby koala hidden in the bag of a woman they stopped in the street. The 50-year-old, who was being spoken to on unrelated matters on Sunday evening, stunned Brisbane officers when she revealed she had the creature in her canvas satchell. “Not quite believing their ears, the officers cautiously unzipped the bag and found this gorgeous boy,” Queensland police said. “The koala — believed to be about […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An orphaned baby koala in Australia has found solace cuddling a fluffy toy marsupial in the absence of his mother as he recovers from the trauma of her death. Nine-month-old Shayne’s mother was recently hit and killed by a car in Queensland state as he clung to her back. Rescuers found the joey had been thrown 20 metres down the road by the impact and was being chased by crows. […]
