BUSHFIRE SURVIVOR KOALA SUCCUMBS TO DISEASE

Sam, the Bushfire Survivor Succumbs to Disease
The story of Sam, the koala who survived the inferno of Victoria’s Black Saturday in Gippsland, only to die of chlamydiosis six months later created headlines around the world.

Sam died as a consequence of chlamydiosis, a disease that ravages all koala populations.  She had surgery to remove cysts caused by this disease but had to be euthanased because there was too much internal scarring to proceed.
This disease is particularly virulent in SEQ and hundreds of koalas die or are euthanased annually because they develop cysts associated with urogenital chlamydiosis.   There is an urgent need for research funding to find a cure for chlamydiosis and determine its connection to Koala Retrovirus.
Koalas are recognised world wide as an iconic Australian symbol yet they continue to disappear before our eyes.  Sam’s death has been publicly acknowledged by the Prime Minister; however, the lives of most koalas end in obscurity outside the public gaze.  All levels of government seem unconcerned about koala health as little funding has been set aside for research.
Koalas need our urgent attention or they will become extinct within a generation.  Queensland’s unique faunal emblem deserves the public allocation of research funding crucial to their survival.
Koala Action Pine Rivers Inc. urges everyone to write to the Federal Minister for the Environment, the Hon Peter Garrett and the Qld Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Kate Jones and voice their concerns about the impact of disease on koalas in SEQ.