John Oliver Has A Koala Chlamydia Ward In His Name Thanks To Russell Crowe

Right. There’s a lot to unpack here, so get comfy.

Proceeds from the sale of Russell Crowe’s leather Cinderella Man jockstrap to John Oliver have gone towards Australia Zoo‘s fight against koala chlamydia  – and a new ward at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital has been named in Oliver’s honour.

Yep.

After Oliver and his show Last Week Tonight threw more than US $7,000 at Crowe during the actor’s Art Of Divorce auction, Rusty himself passed those funds along to Australia Zoo to assist in the genuinely vital endeavour.

Chlamydia has actually impacted Australia’s koala population on a devastating scale, and our furry friends are susceptible to blindness and infertility as a result of the disease.

The good news is that Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital is moving forward with a vaccine they hope will protect the marsupials from the illness.

The Hospital states their veterinary team “has been assisting various research groups for many years to develop a vaccine to help protect the koala population from this life-threatening disease.

“All hand-raised koalas at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital now receive the vaccine before their release, which is hoped to protect them from chlamydia in the long-term, possibly even for life.”

And in a video starring Terri, Bindi, and Robert Irwin, it was revealed that the ward where the koalas receive those vaccinations was named after the generous talk-show host.

While Crowe shared that video late last week, the Last Week Tonight episode celebrating that massive victory only went to air today. You can tell exactly how much it meant to Oliver by his sign-off:

You can read more about the wonderful work the Hospital does right HERE. 

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV