Koalas are on the brink of being extinct. Scientist have suggest to freeze the koala sperms to protect the endangered specie, mostly located in southeastern and eastern Australia. The process is called bio-banking and it involves freezing the cells and tissues of living organism for use in assisted breeding. The technology is similar to what doctors use to help (human) couples struggling to conceive.
In an attempt to enrich the genetic diversity in Koalas and save them from extinction, several scientists and researches at Australia’s University of Newcastle have suggested to build a bio-lab of sperms collected from Koalas. The recent studies have shown that bio-banking could ‘future-proof’ endangered species by getting the genomes of key populations & long-dead individuals, and then reintroducing them into the populations which are at the risk of extinction.
According to Dr Lachlan Howell, honorary associate lecturer at the University of Newcastle, conservationists suffer from the lack of resources required to preserve captive breeding populations for long, that’s why freezing the sperms could act as a cost-effective method to ensure the future survival of endangered species like the Koalas.
In one of his statement to ABC Australia, Dr Lachlan Howell had said, “Captive breeding is comparatively expensive. It’s, on average, about $200,000 AUD (€136,000) per year for Australian species. And that might be required for decades.”
Koalas specie is in critical stage of survival due to habitat degradation. Also, bush-fires have claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Koalas in recent years. According to some estimates, nearly 60,000 koalas may have been killed or affected during the ‘black summer’ bush-fire that severely affected Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales.
Also, domestic dog attacks and vehicle accidents can pose a threat to these animals. According to the Australian Koala Foundation, there are less than 100,000 wild Koalas left. The real number could be as low as 43,000. That’s why freezing koalas sperm could prove to be an important and effective way to save the specie from extinction.
(The article has been written with the help of data & report of Euronews)
