Koala Conservation Reserve on Phillip Island: Is chlamydia killing koalas?

Yes, chlamydia is killing koalas. You can find out why at the Koala Conservation Reserve on Phillip Island, near Melbourne, Victoria.

138km south-east of Melbourne, Phillip Island’s Koala Conservation Reserve is primarily a place for tourists to get close to koalas. Cuddling koalas or holding koalas isn’t allowed, but tree-top boardwalks are in place. These allow viewing of the cute marsupials at eye level when they’re sleeping in the eucalypt trees.

Tempting though it may be, this reserve doesn’t sugarcoat what koalas are and the challenges they face. The brutal honesty starts with sign explaining a koala’s sharp claws and incredibly fast reactions. If they grab you, they’re going to hurt you. This has evolved from the need to be able to grab on to branches and trunks quickly to avoid falling.

5 Phillip Island experiences to book before arriving

1. The legendary Penguin Parade – watch dozens of little penguins waddle home from the sea.
2. Seal-watching cruise – visit Australia’s largest fur seal colony.
3. Phillip Island helicopter tour – fly above the beaches and dramatic sea cliffs.
4. Whale-watching cruise – with dolphins, seals and rare sea birds on the way.
5. Phillip Island Chocolate Factory tour – with more than a touch of Willy Wonka.

Understanding koala chlamydia at the Koala Conservation Reserve

The koalas inside the reserve’s grounds are wild, but protected in a desperate attempt to keep them free of chlamydia. This is the disease that has ravaged koala populations on the Australian mainland.

Chlamydia can cause eye, kidney and respiratory tract diseases in koalas. More importantly, it can also lead to infertility in females.

Chlamydophila pecorum, to be specific, jumped the species barrier from cattle in the early days of European settlement in Australia. But chlamydia is not the only thing threatening koalas.

The Australian continent is largely inhospitable, with the best land in a strip along the east coast. This is the land humans have colonised, building towns, cities, farms and highways.

Koala habitat: Where do koalas live?

Unfortunately, this is exactly the land that koalas like. It’s the land where eucalypt trees – their only food source – grows. The koala is in constant competition with man and the things he brings with him. These include cats, dogs or cars.

The bushfires in these areas are getting more devastating, too. This is partly due to climate change, and partly due to humans preventing milder fires come through every few years as nature intended.

Phillip Island acts as a microcosm for Australia on this. Koalas aren’t actually native to the island, but some arrived in the 1870s and they proliferated.

Between 1941 and 1978, over 3,000 koalas found themselves removed to elsewhere in the country due to overcrowding. Development on the island, a popular weekend escape destination for Melburnians, soon reduced the available habitat, however. Soon, only 15% of the natural space on the island was left.

Koala Conservation Reserve on Phillip Island

The remaining koalas in the Koala Conservation Reserve are lucky – they’re protected from the chlamydia outbreak on the mainland. But, as the reserve makes clear, blaming threats to koala populations purely on chlamydia is dodging responsibility.

While on Phillip Island, you might as well go to the evening Penguin Parade and take a Phillip Island whale-watching tour, too. The Phillip Island weather is at its best between December and March.

You can also explore Phillip Island’s indulgent side at the Phillip Island Chocolate Factory, Purple Hen Winery and Rusty Water Brewery.

More koala-spotting in Australia

Other excellent places to see koalas in Victoria are Kennett River and Cape Otway on the Great Ocean Road. In South Australia, try Adelaide’s Morialta Conservation Park or the Mikkira Station koala hotspot on the Eyre Peninsula.