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.
Reef in Bermuda. Healthy coral reefs have declined by about 50% in the past 40 years Many of the Caribbean's coral reefs could vanish in the next 20 years, according to a report published by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Data from more than 35,000 surveys suggests that habitats have declined by more than 50% since the 1970s. The report's authors believe that over-fishing and disease is mainly to blame. They say the trend could continue if nothing is done, but with protection the reefs could bounce back. Carl Gustaf Lundin, director of IUCN's Global Marine and Polar Programme, said the findings were alarming. "The reefs support a number of different countries and populations," he said. "Tourism is one of the biggest industries, and the health of the reef is essential to the well-being of many of the people living there. And of course they are immensely beautiful and wonderful places as well." Reef overrun with algae The reefs are becoming over-run with algae, which suffocates the coral. The report, which was also authored by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, looked at data collected between 1970 and 2012 from 90 reef habitats and is the most comprehensive assessment of corals in this region.
In a bid to save wild apes from extinction, people may be unwittingly infecting them with potentially deadly diseases, new research shows.
Humans and great apes are closely related, creating the potential for diseases to jump between them. Isolated incidents have been documented of apes and monkeys contracting measles, pneumonia, and influenza from people, as well as a range of other bacteria, viruses and parasites. But the problem may be greater than even that, as highlighted by five recently published academic studies.
DFTD refers to a fatal condition that is characterised by the appearance of facial tumours.
As these develop into large cancerous growths, the animal finds it hard to eat. As it becomes weaker, it is unable to compete with other animals for food.
Researchers say that affected animals appear to die within three to five months of the lesions first appearing.
Reef in Bermuda. Healthy coral reefs have declined by about 50% in the past 40 years Many of the Caribbean's coral reefs could vanish in the next 20 years, according to a report published by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Data from more than 35,000 surveys suggests that habitats have declined by more than 50% since the 1970s. The report's authors believe that over-fishing and disease is mainly to blame. They say the trend could continue if nothing is done, but with protection the reefs could bounce back. Carl Gustaf Lundin, director of IUCN's Global Marine and Polar Programme, said the findings were alarming. "The reefs support a number of different countries and populations," he said. "Tourism is one of the biggest industries, and the health of the reef is essential to the well-being of many of the people living there. And of course they are immensely beautiful and wonderful places as well." 
Reef overrun with algae The reefs are becoming over-run with algae, which suffocates the coral. The report, which was also authored by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, looked at data collected between 1970 and 2012 from 90 reef habitats and is the most comprehensive assessment of corals in this region.
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