Jill's Pick from Around the World: Australia's koalas facing AIDS-like disease


Photo credit: scientificamerican.com


Here in New Jersey, our national icon, the Bald Eagle, was removed from the federal endangered species list in 2007 and is now healthy and recovered.  Australia's national icon, the Koala, helps generate almost $1 billion dollars for the Australian economy because of tourists who come to see it.  Recently, it has been discovered that Koala populations are not only declining because of habitat loss, but also because of Chlamydia and Koala Immune Deficiency Syndrome (KIDS), which is similar to human AIDS.  In the past 6 years the national population has gone from 100,000 to only 43,000.  If the Australian government doesn't start protecting Koalas soon they could be extinct within the next 30 years.


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    Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 1/8/2010 11:00 AM
    Categories: Jill's Pick from Around the World
    Tags: koalas aids australia endangered habitat loss extinction
     

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