Chlamydia could make koalas extinct. Can a vaccine save them in time?
Joe Mangy is one of thousands of koalas treated for chlamydia each year
On the table, unconscious and stretched out on a pillow, Joe Mangy looks deceptively peaceful. The koala's watery, red-rimmed eyes are the only sign of the disease at war with his body.
Tubes snarl out of a mask covering his face as a vet tech listens to his chest with a stethoscope. He is not healing as well as they had hoped.
Australia, New Zealand and Oceania are home to many threatened species, endangered species and critically endangered species at risk of extinction; like the Tazmanian Devil, the Common Black Lemur, the Comoro Black Flying Fox, the Philipine Brown Deer, and more.
Massive coral bleaching killing Australia's Great Barrier Reef - 2016
Fish swim amid bleached coral near Lizard Island, Australia, Great Barrier ReefCoral - 4 stages of coral - healthy, bleached, algal growth voer bleached dead coralClose-up of four staes of coral bleaching dying coral great barrier reef australiaheavy algal overgrowth over bleached dying coral - Great Barrier Reef Australia
The massive bleaching hitting the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia is likely that country's "biggest ever environmental disaster," says Dr. Justin Marshall, who has studied the reef for three decades. Only 7 percent of the reef has escaped bleaching, according to researchers at the ARC Center of Excellence. Marshall, a professor at the University of Queensland, says the destructive phenomenon is happening in an area the size of Scotland. "Before this mass bleaching started, we already were at the point of losing 50% of the coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef. This, I think, will probably take another 50% off what was left," Marshall says. Over the course of the last six months, Marshall and his colleagues with the citizen science project Coral Watch have documented the degradation of reef structures near Lizard Island, one of the worst-hit areas. They photographed the same formations of coral multiple times, showing clearly the pace of the destruction.
Critically Endangered Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat. Scientists believe the number left in the world is about 200 – a slight increase from the mid 1980s when there were only 35 – but the northern hairy nosed wombats remain critically endangered, largely because of competition with cattle and sheep for food, as well as drought and dingo and feral dog attacks. Today, approximately 185 northern hairy nosed wombats reside at Epping Forest in Queensland, Australia, and another 15 live in the 105-hectare Richard Underwood Nature Refuge nearby, making these the only northern hairy nosed colonies in the world. Northern hairy nosed wombats can only be found in the wild; their shy natures making the nocturnal marsupials ill-prepared to cope with the stress of captivity. There are two other species of wombat, the common (or bare-nosed) wombat, which is not endangered and is found on the southeastern coast of Australia (in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania) and the southern hairy nosed wombat, which is endangered and is found in arid, sandy pockets in the southern part of Australia (in South Australia and Western Australia). The Northern hairy nosed wombat is the largest of all the three species, weighing up to 40kg and measuring about 1m long (the females are slightly heavier than the males). Wombats are often referred to as the engineers of the mammal world. Their burrows can be up to 90m long and are essential for helping the animals regulate their temperature and hide from predators. Wombats generally live alone in their burrows, but sometimes there are more than one.
New species of dolphin identified. A team of researchers says it has identified a new species of humpback dolphin. Physical and genetic evidence suggests that cetaceans found in waters off northern Australia are distinct within the humpback family. This general group grows up to 2.4m in length and inhabits coastal waters from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The evidence for the distinct species in northern Australia is outlined in the academic journal Molecular Ecology. "Based on the findings of our combined morphological and genetic analyses, we can suggest that the humpback dolphin genus includes at least four member species," said co-author Martin Mendez, from the Wildlife Conservation Society's Latin America and the Caribbean programme. Dr Mendez added: "This discovery helps our understanding of the evolutionary history of this group and informs conservation policies to help safeguard each of the species." New species scheme for humpback dolphins: Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii), which occurs in the eastern Atlantic off West Africa An Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa plumbea), which ranges from the central to the western Indian Ocean Another species of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis), inhabiting the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans Fourth Sousa species found off northern Australia yet to be named The authors analysed physical data gathered mostly from beached dolphins and museum specimens.
Scientists have linked a dramatic decrease in spores found in herbivore dung to the arrival of humans inAustralia 41,000 years ago.
Humans hunted Australia's giant vertebrates to extinction about 40,000 years ago, the latest research published in Science has concluded. The cause of the widespread extinction has provoked much debate, with climate change being one theory. However, scientists studied dung samples from 130,000 and 41,000 years ago, when humans arrived, and concluded hunting and fire were the cause. The extinction in turn caused major ecological changes to the landscape.
The exact function of the sawfish's spectacular snout has been unclear, until now
The spectacular snouts of sawfish are
revealed as complete hunting weapons, sensing prey and killing them. The saws, which can grow more than a metre long in some species, have previously been identified as able to sense prey by their electric fields. Now, researchers have filmed the fish impaling prey on the teeth of the saws. They suggest in Current Biology that sawfish are more active hunters than previously thought, which could help in their much-needed conservation.
Sawfish are among the most endangered fish in the world
All seven species are listed as Critically Endangered on
Only 7 percent of the reef has escaped bleaching, 
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