Where Is the Kickstarter For the Koala Condom

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Koalas. You know about koalas, right? Cute, slightly vicious, love tickling, delightful little creatures who CAN’T STOP GIVING EACH OTHER CHLAMYDIA. A sexually-transmitted disease is running rampant through their population, and a controlled cull might be their best hope.

But visitors might not realise that tens of thousands of the cute marsupials now suffer from an exceptionally painful and often lethal condition. It is one caused by bacteria with a notorious reputation. Australia’s koalas are being killed by chlamydia. “About half the koalas across Australia are infected,” says David Wilson, professor of infectious diseases at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne. “In closed populations, the majority can be infected – sometimes up to 80%.”