Koala Now Endangered Species

 

Koala is a marsupial mammal animal that is native on Australia and recently, Australia listed it among the endangered species. This is for Queensland, New South Wales, and Australian Capital Territory where most koalas are found.

The reason for the endangered-ness or in the near extinction is the loss of habitat and climate change (for example, drought and bush fires). Australia will make a recovery plan for koala from turning the species into extinction by its environmental department.

“Reclassification from vulnerable to endangered does not require the Australian government to take any special action. But it separately announced that it would adopt a recovery plan for the koala issued by the country’s environmental department. That plan would aid the creation of laws protecting koalas and their natural woodland habitats. Additionally, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced last month that the government would commit 50 million Australian dollars ($35.7 million) over four years to koala recovery and conservation efforts.” (New York Times)

“Australia has lost about 30% of its koalas over the past three years, the Australian Koala Foundation said last year, with numbers estimated to have dropped to less than 58,000 from more than 80,000 in 2018, with the worst decline in New South Wales, where the numbers have dropped by 41%. A World Wide Fund for Nature study estimated bushfires in late 2019 and early 2020 had killed or injured more than 60,000 koalas, when flames burned more than 17 million hectares (65,630 square miles), an area nearly half the size of Germany. But even before the fires, koala habitats had been in rapid decline due to land clearing for agriculture, urban development, mining and forestry. Koalas dwell mostly in eucalypt forests in eastern states and on the coastal fringes.”(CNN)