Koalas are experiencing a population crisis driven partly by chlamydia infection causing blindness, infertility, and death across Australian populations.
The scale of koala suffering from chlamydia infection is enormous. Blinded koalas cannot forage effectively and are more vulnerable to vehicle strike and predator attack. Chronic urinary tract infections cause ongoing pain. Vehicle strike and dog attack injuries are acutely traumatic and often fatal. Wildlife hospitals across eastern Australia are overwhelmed treating injured koalas. The combined pressure of disease, habitat loss, and urban hazards represents a welfare emergency on a population scale. Vaccine programs and habitat protection are the most effective combined response.