Monday 17 August 2009
Clover's a dad!
One of our former residents, a male koala called Livingstone Clover, has done us proud. Clover was unable to be returned to the wild due to a hindleg injury, so he was 'retired' to Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park back in late 2007. Except that he's not of retirement age, and aside from his gammy leg, is an otherwise healthy breeding male. So Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park thought he'd be perfect as a stud male for their posse of breeding females.
Things started out slowly, without much to show for Clover's presence during the the first 18 months. Then, lo and behold, Clover fathered not one but TWO joeys with two different female koalas. One is too little to be showing itself out of the pouch, but the other fellow, an as-yet-unnamed male joey has been delighting carers and visitors at the Park in recent weeks.
There is a interesting story about the mother of the joey. She was conceived at Dreamworld, where her mother had been artificially inseminated with assistance from researchers at the University of Queensland. The resulting joey was named Daiquiri, after the program initials: Dreamworld Artificial Insemination Queensland University. And now Daiquiri's become a mum the old-fashioned way with our Livingstone Clover.
So we feel bit like proud grandparents here at the Koala Hospital. We're glad that Livingstone Clover has done his bit to boost koala numbers and look forward to photos of baby no. 2 when s/he decides to give us a peep. Meanwhile, let's ogle that cuddly little joey some more:
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Oh my God,what a beautiful notice and what a sweet photo!
ReplyDeletesweet photo,loving it!
ReplyDeletegreat news!
ReplyDeleteProbably nothing to make a male koala happier than being a stud male for a posse of breeding females... that is one cute joey!
ReplyDeleteLeslie
Hi Sam - Came across this post in the QUT news section - thought I would forward it on to you in case it may be of interest. Great work you are doing - well done.
ReplyDeleteDonations needed for koala vaccine research
Australians have been urged to help the country's iconic koalas by supporting Queensland University of Technology research into the killer koala disease, chlamydia, which has claimed the life of Victorian bushfire survivor, Sam the koala.
Professor Peter Timms from QUT said up to half of Queensland and New South Wales's koalas were believed to have chlamydia - a statistic likely to be repeated across the nation.
The koala population's vulnerability to the disease has been put in the spotlight by the recent chlamydia death of Sam - the koala who became a symbol of the bushfires after she was photographed taking a drink from a firefighter's water bottle.
QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) is developing a vaccine against chlamydia, which is currently being trialed on koalas, but Professor Timms said more funding was needed to continue the research.
He said chlamydia was a major threat to the continued survival of koalas with almost all populations affected by the disease.
"The numbers of koalas with chlamydia seems to be increasing," Professor Timms said.
"As many as 40 to 50 per cent of koalas coming into care in both Queensland and New South Wales are showing clinical signs of the disease and it seems to be getting worse."
Chlamydia in koalas is a significant cause of infertility, urinary tract infections and inflammation in the lining of the eye which often leads to blindness.
Professor Timms' research is being done with Professor Ken Beagley from IHBI, with strong support from Lone Pine Koala sanctuary and Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors.
People interested in donating to QUT's chlamydia vaccine research at the institute can visit www.ihbi.qut.com/youcanhelp and click on the "donate now" red button.
The research also has benefits for humans, with chlamydia being the major cause of infertility in women.
"By studying chlamydial disease in koalas, as well as in humans, we hope to understand how this tiny bug can cause so many nasty diseases and how to develop a vaccine for use in humans," Professor Timms said.