bout koala behavior. It involves how these tree-dwelling animals that are native to Australia consume enough water to live. One study suggests that they lick the water running down the smooth surface of tree trunks during rainfall. That would indicate that they do not rely merely on the water content of the leaves that make up their diet. It was initially thought that they gained the majority of the water they require from the moisture content in the leaves they feed on and unintentionally ate wet leaves after rainfall.
Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease that can cause plenty of unpleasant symptoms among its hosts, human, marsupial, or anything else. So in the past few years, there has been a massive outbreak of chlamydia among Australia’s koala population. In fact, about half of Australia’s koalas are infected with the STD. When koalas contract it, they develop a condition known colloquially as “dirty tail,” in which their urinary tracts become so inflamed that it can be fatal. To make things even more disturbing, they can pass chlamydia on to humans without any direct contact. You have to touch their pee to contract it.
Chlamydia is no joke to koalas. While it is not always fatal, the disease has been shown to impact a koala’s health significantly. It frequently leads to blindness, severe bladder inflammation, and death. Where possible, it might seem like a great idea to treat them with antibiotics. However, antibiotic treatment could create further problems by upsetting their gut microbes and making it extremely difficult to digest the eucalyptus leaves that are a staple in their diet. Although chlamydia has sickened koalas for decades, it has long been unclear why they are so vulnerable
Do you think it’s improbable that you will contract chlamydia from a koala? If so, you might want to think again. If you go walking around through the eucalyptus forests of Australia in search of these nasty little marsupials, they just might pee on you. And in doing so, give you chlamydia. Many people enjoy picking these seemingly furry creatures up, but like many tree-dwelling animals, koalas don’t care where they urinate. If an infected koala urinates on a person, it can transmit the strain of chlamydia to the human. Can you imagine trying to explain that one to your doctor?
In fact, back in 2012, two members of the band One Direction, Harry Styles and Liam Payne, were visiting Australia and stopped in to see a three-year-old koala named Kat. Kat didn’t care how famous they were; he peed on both of them. When the musicians learned afterward that they could contract chlamydia from the urine attack, the boys lamented that they would have avoided the koala altogether had they known. With approximately 80 percent of Australian koala bears carrying the disease, Harry and Liam were fortunate to have dodged that bullet! Keep in mind if you plan to visit and interact with a koala that they tend to urinate much more during the winter seasons.
Koala habitats are composed of “home trees” that they don’t stray too far from. That area makes up what is known as the home range, and there is only one koala to each home range. You might be surprised to learn that they don’t like to be around each other. Unless, of course, they are breeding. Then, all the rules of antisocial behavior go out the window, and they will invade anyone else’s territory in the hopes of finding the perfect mate. However, you would be antisocial if people knew that you might pee on them and give them chlamydia.
Koalas are not social animals in the slightest. They tend to make every effort to avoid or ignore the other colony members, except for the breeding season. However, they do have overlapping territories where some trees may be shared. Now and then, koalas might meet in a shared tree. Even during these rare moments, there is very limited, if any, interaction between the two. They might even be as close as one branch away from each other and still never bother to look at or acknowledge the other, like strangers on a subway train.
Koala home ranges don’t get dist