 Cars and chlamydia behind rise in Queensland koala deaths Brisbane, Australia (UPI) Feb 21, 2017 - Scientists in Australia have identified the two main drivers of koala deaths in southeast Queensland: cars and chlamydia. Researchers at the University of Queensland analyzed death and disease data from Moggill Koala Hospital records. Between 1997 to 2013, more than 5,000 otherwise healthy koalas were killed by cars. Of the more than 20,000 koala deaths studied, 50 percent involved koalas with at least one disease. "It's important data collected over the span of the koala population crash," Rachel Allavena, a professor of veterinary sciences, said in a news release. "Populations throughout 'Koala Coast' declined by about 80 per cent over this period, so this iconic and famous species is in real trouble in our area." Chlamydia was the most prominent disease among koalas admitted to Moggill Koala Hospital. The disease renders many females infertile and leaves infected koalas vulnerable to predators. Wasting disease, starvation and animal attacks, especially from dogs, were also significant drivers of koala losses. Researchers published the results of their survey in the journal Scientific Reports. As part of survey, scientists set up an online database that allows local veterinarians report instances of koala injury, disease and death. The data will help government agencies and conservation groups make more strategic investments in koala care and prevention.
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A Japanese zoo has culled 57 native snow monkeys by lethal injection after finding that they carried genes of an "invasive alien species", officials said Tuesday.
The Takagoyama Nature Zoo in the city of Futtsu in Chiba prefecture east of Tokyo, housed 164 simians which it believed were all pure Japanese macaques.
But the operator and local officials discovered about one-third were crossbred with the rhesus macaque, which in Japan is designated an "invasive alien species".
A city official told AFP on Tuesday that Japanese law bans the possession and transport of invasive species, including the crossbreeds, and that culling of them is allowed under the law.
He said the monkeys were put to death by lethal injection over about one month ending early February.
The zoo operator held a memorial service for the monkeys at a nearby Buddhist temple to appease their souls, he added.
Snow monkey-rhesus macaque crossbreeds were designated for culling when Japan's environment law was revised in 2013.
"They have to be killed to protect the indigenous environment," an official with the Chiba prefectural government said.
But Japan's Environment Ministry said exceptions can be made, such as cases in which zoos apply for permission to keep them.
"There are many zoos in the country, which rear animals that became classified as invasive species after the law was created," a ministry official said.
Though the killing of the monkeys may appear cruel, environmentalists said it is crucial not to allow any contacts between foreign and native species lest the natural balance be upset.
Junkichi Mima, spokesman for conservation group WWF Japan, said invasive species cause problems "because they get mixed in with indigenous animals and threaten the natural environment and ecosystem".
The snow monkey, known in Japan as Nihonzaru (Japanese macaque), is brown in colour with a red face, and the mountainous area near the zoo is designated as a wild habitat for them.
The zoo started feeding wild snow monkeys in 1957 and held dozens in a rough fence, the city official said.
But in the 1990s, the rhesus macaque, which originates in China and Southeast Asia, started to increase in the area. Chiba prefecture said that since 2005 it has culled wild ones in a bid to stamp them out.
The Takagoyama zoo conducted DNA testing on its snow monkeys and discovered the mixture.
"Preventing exposures to foreign animals is very important," said Tomoko Shimura of the Nature Conservation Society of Japan.
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