/ 14 April 2022

Saving koalas from extinction

Image source: Unsplash
Image source: Unsplash

Land clearing and catastrophic bushfires have shrunk koala populations, and experts say the endangered species could be extinct by 2050 unless urgent action is taken. Yikes… But there is hope with new research from Newcastle Uni finding that freezing koala sperm could help save the species from disappearing. The study published in the Animals journal found koala “biobanking” could be harnessed with IVF technology to impregnate female koalas in breed-for-release programs. Fresh and chilled sperm is already used in koala breeding programs, but until now there have been questions about using frozen sperm to boost species numbers. Researchers say such a strategy would be 5-12 times cheaper than current captive koala breeding methods. It comes as the NSW Government announced new funding for koala conservation efforts this week to back its commitment to double their numbers in the state by 2050.

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