Queensland koalas to get vaccine against chlamydia

Koalas in Queensland are set to have a shot against chlamydia as a new vaccination is trialled across the state's capital.

About 20 per cent of koala's in Brisbane have chlamydia, which can be deadly for the species.

"It can be quite a painful death," Dr Sean Fitzgibbon, an ecologist from the University of Queensland said.

"Their eyes can become so inflamed from the chlamydia that they close over ... it also affects their bladder, it makes the bladder wall really thick so they become incontinent."

While chlamydia can sometimes be treated for koalas in captivity, Dr Fitzgibbon said it's a long process to recovery.

Queensland University of Technology scientists are hoping to vaccinate koalas against the deadly disease as part of a two-year pilot program in the Queensland capital.

"We all want the same thing, a healthy koala population that is growing," QUT School of Biomedical Science professor Ken Beagley said.

"After habitat destruction, dog attacks and car strikes, disease is the next most pressing issue for koalas and chlamydia is a major problem."

Mr Beagley said the vaccine is currently considered "experimental" and can only be used with ethics approval from a university, but hopes to get it registered for use at vet clinics and wildlife hospitals.

Overall, Dr Fitzgibbon said koala populations across Brisbane are a "mixed bag", with an abundance in koalas in some areas, and numbers dwindling in others.

Brisbane's Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the council has plans to reintroduce koalas into bushland areas across the city.

"I want Brisbane to be the koala capital of Australia and to do this we must invest in our wildlife," he said.

Dr Fitzgibbon welcomed the reintroduction strategy.

He said koalas populations have been growing at Wacol in Brisbane's west after being reintroduced to a bushland area known as Pooh Corner.

"There was no evidence of koalas there for many years," he said.

"We took some of the koalas that had been rescued from elsewhere in Brisbane from very urban environments that were quite dangerous to be putting koalas back into.

"We've re-established a small population there and hope that it will continue to grow."