Orphaned koala joey Ajooni snuffled as she took milk from a tiny syringe, clinging to a fluffy toy twice her size.
She was discovered near the side of a Sydney road where her mother had been struck by a car and died, and she weighed around the same as a mango.
Emma Meadows, a wildlife caretaker, is familiar with this story.
In their neighbourhood, Meadows and other volunteers have rescued forty koalas that were struck by cars throughout the previous two years. It’s probably far higher than the number left for dead.
Naturally shy, koalas are notoriously hard to count.
There are anywhere between 95,000 and 524,000 left in Australia, possibly down from millions before European settlement.
There is little doubt that expanding cities, land clearance and the spread of chlamydia are devastating the populations of one of Australia’s most iconic animals.
East Coast koalas were officially listed as “endangered” by the Australian government in 2022.
“I actually, truly, believe we’re heading towards extinction,” said Meadows, a volunteer with WIRES.
“I don’t know if there is any coming back from this. I’m scared it’s too late.”
About 50 years ago, chlamydia was first discovered in koalas. It has wiped out entire local communities in the decades since.
The bacteria causes infertility, blindness, bladder infections, and sometimes death.
While there are pockets of koala populations that are chlamydia-free—like the one where Ajooni was discovered—scientists worry that these areas may soon disappear.
