National Sep 22, 2014

Koalas' prodigious costs, graying population bedevil nation's zookeepers

Despite the popularity of koalas, the number of those kept in Japanese zoos has been more than halved from the mid-1990s peak as their population continues to grow old. The difficulty of accommodating their fussy eating habits — they feed exclusively on eucalyptus leaves, which ...

World / Science & Health Apr 27, 2013

Gene-sequencing breakthrough may save koalas

by Peter Beaumont

Last year the koala, Australia's iconic marsupial, was officially listed as a threatened species in large parts of the country following two decades of devastating population losses. Hard hit by drought, loss of habitat and attacks by other animals, including domestic dogs, the nation's koala ...