SerpApi.Org
Koalas may soon rely on a deep freeze to help keep them around. Australian researchers are creating a national sperm-and-egg bank for the marsupials, whose numbers Live Science reports are "crashing" in parts of the country due to habitat loss, wildfire, and disease, including a widespread chlamydia infection. Even parts of the country where koalas are thriving won't be able to sustain that because the critters are overgrazing. The University of Queensland project aims to build a "genetic safety net" by preserving reproductive cells now, before shrinking populations make it harder to maintain healthy diversity. "We cannot wait until populations are smaller," reproductive biologist Andres Gambini tells Smithsonian.
The bank will draw on koalas treated at Currumbin Wildlife Hospital that later die or can no longer breed. Their sperm and eggs will be collected, screened for the chlamydia strain that afflicts koalas, cleaned if they're deemed genetically valuable, then stored in liquid nitrogen for potential use decades from now via IVF and artificial insemination. Similar cryobanking is routine in humans and livestock, notes an outside biologist. Scientists stress the frozen vault is only one piece of the puzzle, to be paired with habitat protection, disease control, and population monitoring. Koalas are officially listed as endangered in parts of eastern Australia, a status one wildlife vet calls "really embarrassing." (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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