Become a Koala Crusader

The Koala Crusaders campaign is an initiative of Wildlife Warriors to raise money to support disease research in koalas.  Infectious diseases, particularly those caused by the bacterium Chlamydia and the virus Koala Retrovirus (KoRV), are having a devastating effect on koala populations in Queensland and New South Wales. 

The magnitude of the impacts are not fully realised yet, but analysis of early research data by the koala research team at the Australian Wildlife Hospital suggests that the situation is far worse than previously thought.  Intensive health investigations of koala populations at Narangba, Brendale and the Gold Coast are all showing the same thing:  that the prevalence of serious infectious disease is much higher than previously estimated.  Approximately 50% of female koalas have detectable reproductive tract disease, 30% of both males and females are so sick that admission to wildlife hospitals or euthanasia is required, and a high proportion of healthy koalas will contract serious infections at some stage of their life.   These impacts, in combination with loss and fragmentation of koala habitats, are driving koalas rapidly to extinction.   We cannot effectively manage the surviving koala populations for long-term survival without understanding these diseases much better that we currently do.  The pitiful response of the State government to the koala crisis is partly because they assume that protection of at least some koala habitat will be sufficient to save the species.  They have not taken into account the seriousness of the disease threat. 

The Koala Crusaders fund aims to support urgent koala disease research quickly – so that up-to-date information is being fed back to the government decision makers, and we can develop strategies to manage disease in dwindling koala populations.   The Australian Wildlife Hospital team and the koala research team of Jon Hanger, Jo Loader, Ben Nottidge and Tosh Tucker are collaborating with university researchers at the University of Queensland, the Queensland University of Technology and the University of Sydney investigating the key diseases of koalas.  Your financial contribution directly supports this vital research and will make a difference.

To find out more or make a donation online please click here

Alternatively you can download their donations brochure by clicking here.