Cars, chlamydia and canines are biggest koala killers

A database tracking hospital admissions and deaths reveals the devastating impact cars, disease and dogs are having on the South East Queensland koala population. Professor Joerg Henning and his colleagues at The University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science have analysed data from the UQ-developed KoalaBASE. "Car strikes, dog attacks and chlamydia-induced illnesses are injuring and killing an incredible number of koalas across the South East Queensland," Professor Henning said. "In the five years between 2009 and 2014, 52 per cent of reported wild koala deaths were caused by car strike, 34 per cent were from a chlamydia-related disease and 14 per cent were because of a dog attack. "This equates to 1,431 koala deaths from a car strike, 943 chlamydia-related deaths, and 395 dog attack deaths in just five years. "Remember that these deaths were just the reported cases, so the real numbers would be significantly higher." KoalaBASE has been collecting data since 1997 across 15 local government areas from the Fraser Coast, to the Scenic Rim and Darling Downs and the South Burnett. Dr Ravi Dissanayake conducted the initial analysis, supervised by UQ colleagues and Professor Mark Stevenson at the University of Melbourne.