Australia’s beloved koalas are dying of stress because their habitats are being destroyed, research has found.

Photo: AP

Koalas live in the rolling hills and flat plains where eucalyptus trees grow, because they need the leaves for both food and water. But as people move in, koalas are finding themselves with fewer trees, researchers have said. The stress is bringing out a latent disease that infects 50 to 90 per cent of the animals.

“Koalas are in diabolical trouble,” says researcher Frank Carrick, who heads the Koala Study Program at the University of Queensland.  “Numbers show that even in their stronghold, koala numbers are declining alarmingly.”

The problem came to national attention in August, when the well-known Sam the Koala died during surgery to treat the disease, called chlamydia. Sam captured the world’s attention during major wildfires in February, when she was photographed drinking from the water bottle of a firefighter in a smouldering forest. Sam was in such obvious pain from chlamydia that veterinarian John Butler decided to operate. But her organs were too scarred to complete the surgery, and Sam was euthanised.

Chlamydiosis is a virus that breaks out in koalas in times of stress like cold sores in humans and leads to infections in the eyes and urinary, reproductive and respiratory tracts. It can cause blindness, infertility and death.

Read the full article here at Telepgraph.co.uk