Super Koalas超级考拉

Koalas are famous worldwide for being cuddly and sleepy. But their numbers are in dramatic decline due to habitat loss and diseases like chlamydia， an infection which is spreading through populations， making koalas very sick.

To help， the University of Queensland， Queensland University of Technology and the Dreamworld Wildlife Foundation have come together to breed super koalas with healthy genes that can be released into the wild to improve the health of threatened populations.

Jagger， the first koala bred in the Living Koala Genome Bank pilot project， spent his first two years at Dreamworlds koala breeding center before being released to live in a koala colony in Elanora Conservation Park on the Gold Coast.

“Jagger is fully vaccinated against chlamydia， is disease-free and， thanks to his diverse genetics， will help protect koalas in this population，” said Associate Professor Stephen Johnston， from the University of Queenslands school of agriculture and food sciences.

The federal government announced in February， 2022 that it planned to list koalas as endangered in NSW， Queensland and the ACT after populations were ravaged by the Black Summer bushfires， as well as drought， disease and habitat loss.

考拉因其可愛和嗜睡而闻名于世。但由于栖息地丧失和感染衣原体等疾病，考拉的数量急剧下降。衣原体是一种通过种群传播的传染病，它会让考拉病得很严重。

为了帮助考拉，澳大利亚的昆士兰大学、昆士兰科技大学和梦幻世界野生动物基金会联合起来，培育带有健康基因的超级考拉。这些考拉可以被放生到野外，以促进受到威胁的考拉种群的健康。

贾格尔是“活着的考拉基因库”试点项目中培育出的第一只考拉，它在“梦想世界”的考拉繁殖中心度过了头两年，然后被放生到黄金海岸的Elanora保护公园的考拉栖息地生活。

昆士兰大学农业与食品科学学院的副教授斯蒂芬·约翰斯顿说：“贾格尔已经接种了衣原体疫苗，没有任何疾病，多亏了它多样化的基因，这将有助于保护考拉种群。”

2022年2月，澳大利亚联邦政府宣布，计划将新南威尔士州、昆士兰州和澳大利亚首都地区的考拉列为濒危物种。此前，“黑色夏季”森林大火、干旱、疾病和栖息地丧失等因素导致考拉数量大幅减少。

The cutting down of eucalyptus trees to make way for roads， houses and other buildings is a big problem， because koalas have a big diet—a koala can eat up to 1kg of eucalyptus leaves a day.

Professor Johnston said the team bred the super koalas to have “high genetic merit”. This means they not only have healthy， disease-free genes but also a variety of genes， which is extremely important for a species to be able to adapt to changing environments.

By releasing the specially bred super koalas into the wild， it is hoped they will mate with other koalas and boost the populations genetic diversity and resistance to disease.

Professor Johnston said he hoped the initiative could be expanded into other wildlife parks to help “safeguard the future of koalas”.

“Koala population densities have seen a rapid decline by 80 per cent in the past 25 years，” researcher Ms Barnes said.

“With most east coast koalas now listed as endangered， so much more needs to be done in this space to protect them from extinction.”

为了修建道路、房屋和其他建筑而砍伐桉树是一个大问题，因为考拉需要吃大量的食物——一只考拉每天可以吃掉1千克的桉树叶。

约翰斯顿教授说，研究小组培育这种超级考拉是为了让它们具有“高基因优势”。 这意味着它们不仅拥有健康、无疾病的基因，而且还拥有多样化的基因，这对一个物种能否适应不断变化的环境至关重要。

通过将这种特殊繁殖的超级考拉放生到野外，研究人员希望它们能与其他考拉交配，从而提高考拉的基因多样性和抗病能力。

约翰斯顿教授说，他希望这项新方案可以扩展到其他野生动物园，以帮助“保护考拉的未来”。

研究员巴恩斯女士说：“在过去的25年里，考拉的种群密度迅速下降了80%。”

“随着大多数东海岸考拉被列为濒危物种，我们需要做更多的工作来保护它们免于灭绝。”

Word Bank

breed /bri?d/ v.繁殖

colony /'k?l?ni/ n.（同地生长的植物或动物）群，群体

diverse /da?'v??s/ adj.各种各样的；不同的

My interests are very diverse.

ravage /'r?v?d?/ v.严重损害；毁坏

boost /bu?st/ v. 使增长；促进

initiative /?'n???t?v/ n. 新方案；倡议