A colony of rock wallabies on Magnetic Island has been “virtually wiped out”, with fears a parasitic disease carried by cats could be responsible for the deaths.

The Magnetic Island Nature Care Association is trying to save the island’s remaining wallabies and is calling on the community to help them.

“We’ve got a cluster of about 23 or 24 deaths in one small area in Nelly Bay, so at the moment we’re seeking community advice on any other dead animals people are seeing,” said Gethin Morgan, the group’s president.

“20 odd wallabies in this small section is basically a very healthy colony virtually wiped out.”

At least three of the animals, which are classified as a vulnerable species, have been confirmed to have been infected with toxoplasmosis, which is caused by a parasite typically carried by cats.

Call for feral cats to be trapped
Mr Morgan said feral cats had been a problem on the island for some time and urgent trapping needed to be done to help protect the national treasures.

“We’re looking for funding to employ a feral cat specialist to do a preliminary trapping of feral cats in the area where deaths are occurring, and work with national parks to set up a longer-term feral cat strategy for the island as a whole,” he said.

The group also raised their concerns with the Townsville City Council calling for them to approach the issue with some urgency in urban areas.

A council spokesperson said they are aware of the recent deaths and residents needed to be diligent in meeting their responsibilities for keeping their pet cats enclosed within their residence.

“Residents are urged to call council to collect any wandering cats that they may come across so officers can attend and impound the animal,” the spokesperson said.

Health concerns allayed
Humans can also contract toxoplasmosis and Mr Morgan said he was worried the disease could pose risks to the island’s residents.

Townsville Hospital and Health Service Public Health Unit doctor Steven Donohue said the likelihood of people contracting toxoplasmosis from rock wallabies was exceedingly low.

“The host animal of the parasite is cats,” Dr Donohue said.

“The most common sources of human infection in Australia is from accidental ingestion through contact with contaminated cat faeces.”

Dr Donohue said in rare cases the disease could be dangerous for humans, and some healthy people with good immune systems could develop flu-like symptoms, but most people would not show any signs of illness at all.

“In people with weakened immune systems the infection can be severe and require medical treatment,” he said.

While the risk of contracting toxoplasmosis remained relatively low, Dr Donohue said people could take precautions to protect themselves.

“Good hand hygiene and safe food handling practices, in addition to wearing gloves whilst gardening and closed-in shoes whilst bush walking, will minimise your chances of being exposed,” he said.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/rock-wallabies-under-threat-from-parasitic-disease-on-magnetic-island/ar-AAKXk0m?ocid=msedgntp

PermeateFree said:

A colony of rock wallabies on Magnetic Island has been “virtually wiped out”, with fears a parasitic disease carried by cats could be responsible for the deaths.

The Magnetic Island Nature Care Association is trying to save the island’s remaining wallabies and is calling on the community to help them.

“We’ve got a cluster of about 23 or 24 deaths in one small area in Nelly Bay, so at the moment we’re seeking community advice on any other dead animals people are seeing,” said Gethin Morgan, the group’s president.

“20 odd wallabies in this small section is basically a very healthy colony virtually wiped out.”

At least three of the animals, which are classified as a vulnerable species, have been confirmed to have been infected with toxoplasmosis, which is caused by a parasite typically carried by cats.

Call for feral cats to be trapped
Mr Morgan said feral cats had been a problem on the island for some time and urgent trapping needed to be done to help protect the national treasures.

“We’re looking for funding to employ a feral cat specialist to do a preliminary trapping of feral cats in the area where deaths are occurring, and work with national parks to set up a longer-term feral cat strategy for the island as a whole,” he said.

The group also raised their concerns with the Townsville City Council calling for them to approach the issue with some urgency in urban areas.

A council spokesperson said they are aware of the recent deaths and residents needed to be diligent in meeting their responsibilities for keeping their pet cats enclosed within their residence.

“Residents are urged to call council to collect any wandering cats that they may come across so officers can attend and impound the animal,” the spokesperson said.

Health concerns allayed
Humans can also contract toxoplasmosis and Mr Morgan said he was worried the disease could pose risks to the island’s residents.

Townsville Hospital and Health Service Public Health Unit doctor Steven Donohue said the likelihood of people contracting toxoplasmosis from rock wallabies was exceedingly low.

“The host animal of the parasite is cats,” Dr Donohue said.

“The most common sources of human infection in Australia is from accidental ingestion through contact with contaminated cat faeces.”

Dr Donohue said in rare cases the disease could be dangerous for humans, and some healthy people with good immune systems could develop flu-like symptoms, but most people would not show any signs of illness at all.

“In people with weakened immune systems the infection can be severe and require medical treatment,” he said.

While the risk of contracting toxoplasmosis remained relatively low, Dr Donohue said people could take precautions to protect themselves.

“Good hand hygiene and safe food handling practices, in addition to wearing gloves whilst gardening and closed-in shoes whilst bush walking, will minimise your chances of being exposed,” he said.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/rock-wallabies-under-threat-from-parasitic-disease-on-magnetic-island/ar-AAKXk0m?ocid=msedgntp

Another nail in the coffin.

Whatever happened to Koala chlamydia by the way?

mollwollfumble said:

Whatever happened to Koala chlamydia by the way?

Looking up on google scholar. Koalas have always had disease problems.

Diseases took a heavy toll of the koala population from 1887 to the 1930s.

Pessimism for the effect of diseases (primarily cystic diseases) on the future of the koala species was expressed in 1960, 1972 and 1983.

Chlamydia in koalas first became a concern in 1986.

There are still references to it as recently as 2016. So it looks as though koala chlamydia is still a major problem. There are vaccines for it now.

>>Looking up on google scholar. Koalas have always had disease problems.

Diseases took a heavy toll of the koala population from 1887 to the 1930s.<<

The koala was heavily hunted by European settlers in the early 20th century, largely for its thick, soft fur. More than two million pelts are estimated to have left Australia by 1924. Pelts were in demand for use in rugs, coat linings, muffs, and as trimming on women’s garments. Extensive cullings occurred in Queensland in 1915, 1917, and again in 1919, when over one million koalas were killed with guns, poisons, and nooses. The public outcry over these cullings was probably the first wide-scale environmental issue that rallied Australians. Novelist and social critic Vance Palmer, writing in a letter to The Courier-Mail, expressed the popular sentiment:

The shooting of our harmless and lovable native bear is nothing less than barbarous … No one has ever accused him of spoiling the farmer’s wheat, eating the squatter’s grass, or even the spreading of the prickly pear. There is no social vice that can be put down to his account … He affords no sport to the gun-man … And he has been almost blotted out already from some areas.

Despite the growing movement to protect native species, the poverty brought about by the drought of 1926–1928 led to the killing of another 600,000 koalas during a one-month open season in August 1927. In 1934, Frederick Lewis, the Chief Inspector of Game in Victoria, said that the once-abundant animal had been brought to near extinction in that state, suggesting that only 500–1000 remained.

A truck load of 3,600 koala skins trapped during the last open hunting season in Queensland, 1927