First-ever koala chlamydia vaccine implant inserted into a wild koala

In what’s been hailed as a “massive breakthrough”, a chlamydia vaccine implant has been administered to a wild koala for the first time.

This is the only koala chlamydia vaccine that uses two doses. Now thanks to the implant it can be applied in one examination.

She might not know it, but the recipient a young koala dubbed Bamse (Norwegian for “teddy bear”) is now a trailblazer in the battle against a disease devastating to her species.

The 18-month-old female was captured in Burleigh and taken to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital.

There Senior Veterinarian Dr Michael Pyne, assisted by QUT’s Dr Freya Russell, sedated Bamse, injected her with the first vaccine dose, and inserted the implant. 

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary’s koala ecology team returned Bamse to her bushland home on the same day as the procedure (19 May 2026).

That implant was designed to break down after 30 days to deliver the second vaccine dose. Bamse is wearing a GPS collar and will be monitored for at least six months to assess the implant’s effectiveness.  

Five wild koalas from Burleigh have now received the implant. Bamse and another koala have been recaptured for their one month check-up and both are chlamydia free.

Trialling the implant on wild koalas is a major milestone for the chlamydia vaccine project, led by QUT and Currumbin Wildlife Hospital.

The World Wide Fund for Nature Australia is backing the research – with funding support from furniture brand Koala – to help recover koala populations. 

Vaccine project success so far

More than 500 koalas have been vaccinated at Currumbin Wildlife Hospital and the Moggill Koala Rehabilitation Centre. This included more than 30 young koalas from Elanora on the Gold Coast, stabilising that population and sparking a baby boom.

In 2020 more than 70% of Elanora koalas presenting to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital were infected with chlamydia.

Now chlamydia admissions from that general area have reduced by 75%, and 41 joeys and 13 grand-joeys have been born in what was previously one of Queensland’s most diseased populations.

Importance of the vaccine implant

Success with the Elanora population was achieved through a two-step process. Koalas were captured for an initial vaccine and recaptured four weeks later for a booster shot.

QUT’s innovative, biodegradable implant delivers the second dose removing the need to recapture koalas.

The process is much less stressful for the animals, requires fewer staff and resources, and makes large-scale vaccination of wild koalas much more practical.

Tested in captive koalas, the implant proved to be effective giving researchers the confidence to launch the trial in wild koalas, with the hope it will be equally successful.  

New study calls for vaccine roll out in South East Queensland

This comes as a new independent report, prepared for the Queensland Government, backed the QUT vaccine, saying it demonstrated “substantial reductions in chlamydial disease and mortality in vaccinated wild koalas” and showed that “vaccination is operationally feasible at scale”.

The research, by Dr Lyndal Hulse from The University of Queensland, involved taking swabs from more than 1100 male and female koalas at wildlife hospitals in SEQ.

Dr Hulse has recommended “LGAs including Somerset–South Burnett, Redland City, Logan City, Western SEQ and Moreton Bay should be prioritised for vaccination due to high disease burden”.

Logan City was the worst with 58% infected with conjunctival chlamydia and 56% with urogenital tract (UGT) chlamydia. Infection levels were much lower on the Gold Coast and Brisbane which have benefited from the vaccination.

The study, “Maximising effective deployment of the koala Chlamydia vaccine in SEQ”, was proudly funded through the Queensland Government.