It's a girl!
Currumbin Wildlife Hospital’s Koala Vaccine program continues to go from strength to strength. In just over 2 years, there are now at least 27 extra Koala joeys in the local area, who have been born to vaccinated Koalas.
After a run of baby boy joeys recently, staff are thrilled to announce Elanora Koala Tam Tam has given birth to a baby girl joey – to be known as Tim Tam.
5 year old Tam Tam and 7 month old Tim Tam visited Currumbin Wildlife Hospital recently. They both underwent routine checks and are doing extremely well. They’ve now been released back into the wild.
“We’re so happy for Tam Tam and her baby girl Tim Tam. The future of the program is looking very bright with little girl joeys like Tim Tam out there!” Research Supervisor Lewis McKillop.
The vaccine program, which was established with researchers from QUT, aims to establish the level of vaccination required within an infected Koala population to reduce the overall incidence of chlamydia and improve the associated fertility so that the population stabilises or increases.
Over 60% of Koalas are admitted to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital due to the effects of chlamydia and of the remaining 40% of admissions, a significant number of Koalas are showing signs of the disease. Clinical chlamydia is one of the leading contributors to the species’ dramatic population decline.
More than 300 wild local Koalas have now been vaccinated. This includes all Koalas treated and released through Currumbin Wildlife Hospital, as well as those in the Elanora population.
The program would not be possible without the generous support of the Neumann Family, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate, The City of Gold Coast, WildArk, Rotary Currumbin Coolangatta Tweed and WWF-Australia.
The cost to treat one Koala suffering from clinical chlamydia is $7,000.
Please support Currumbin Wildlife Hospital by donating today so we can provide our Koalas with the very best care.