Koala chlamydia vaccine trial secures $750k in funding

Tara Cosoleto | August 18, 2023

Australian researchers have been given $750,000 to find new ways to vaccinate koalas against chlamydia.

The federal government funding will allow the Queensland University of Technology to trial a new vaccine implant.

If successful, koalas would no longer need to be held for long periods or recaptured to receive their second dose of the chlamydia vaccine.

The sexually transmitted infection is a significant and widespread threat to koalas, affecting their reproductive health and causing infertility.

Koalas are listed as endangered in Queensland, NSW and the ACT. 

“No-one wants to imagine an Australia without the koalas,” Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said in a statement.

“The Australian government is making sure our kids and grandkids will still be able to see koalas in the wild.”

The latest investment is part of the government’s more than $76 million Saving Koalas Fund to support the recovery and long-term conservation of the koala and its habitats.