Koalas, out on a limb

Duration: 26

Year Published: 1985

Creator: Wombat

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description: Reality for Australia's koala bear is at variance with the animal's cuddly commercialized image. While koalas were generally regarded with awe in Aboriginal creation myths, historically they were ruthlessly hunted by dingo dogs as well as by Aborigines for their fur and flesh. By the 1860's, koalas were also severely threatened by white settlers who instituted a profitable fur export trade. Today, despite the support of scientists and environmentalists, the koalas continue to be under seige due to the destruction of their essential food and habitat and by widespread disease. Pneumonia, kidney failure, blindness and infertility have become commonplace among them and can be traced to the sexually-transmitted bacterium, chlamydia psittaci.

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