Seventy five percent of the main Koala food tree species are declining in numbers as a result of dieback. The underlying cause of all these factors appears to be the clearing and disturbance of forests. Dieback is a general term for the gradual dying of trees due to factors such as land degradation, leaching of soil nutrients, changes in the composition of vegetation communities, rising water levels underground, salination (or salting-up) of the soil, erosion caused by wind and water, exposure to weather and excessive defoliation (or loss of leaves) Small, isolated patches of forest are prone to dieback. The cutting back of the original vast forests has created patches of forest separated from each other by treeless land. DiebackĬhanges in the balance of the ecosystem can lead to dieback. Click here to learn more about Koala disease and injury. Koalas also suffer from a range of cancers like leukemia and skin cancers. In disease-free populations which have been moved to areas where they were not native or where there is not enough habitat to support them (such as on some islands off Victoria and Kangaroo Island in South Australia), problems with overpopulation have arisen because of this unnatural situation. Chlamydia is harmless in populations with unlimited resources, but manifests in times of stress, which happens when habitat is reduced. The symptoms of chlamydia manifest as sore eyes, chest infections, and “wet bottom” or “dirty tail”. There are four common Koala diseases caused by the chlamydia organism: conjunctivitis which can cause blindness, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and reproductive tract infections, which can cause female infertility. If a Koala population is living in an area of bushland which is surrounded by development, the whole colonly could be wiped out in a single fire. Click here for more information about Koalas and dogs. Over 4000 Koalas are killed each year by cars and dogs. When habitat is cleared for roads and housing estates, cars and dogs become a serious threat to Koalas. increased stress on animals, making them more susceptible to disease.increased competition for food and territory because of overcrowding.effects of garden pesticides getting into waterways.Click here for more information on Koala habitat.Ĭlearing of the eucalypt forests means that all wildlife, including Koalas, will suffer from: While humans need these modern conveniences, we should be trying to put them in places where Koalas and other wildlife are not already living, and to think of other solutions to the problems of modern life, such as improving public transport. Clearing of the land for expansion of human settlement, for example, for agriculture, housing, mining, forestry, shops, factories and roads.
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