As of: 09/20/2021 8:38 a.m.
There are fewer and fewer koalas in Australia. There are now fewer than 60,000 animals on the continent. One reason is the devastating bushfires in recent years – but other factors also play a role.
The koalas in Australia are in ever greater danger: According to a new study, the number of Australian marsupials is falling rapidly. In the past three years alone, the population has shrunk by 30 percent. The population has declined in all regions of the country, but especially in the state of New South Wales on the east coast, said the Australian Koala Foundation AKF. Here the number has even decreased by 41 percent.
In many parts of the country koalas are already extinct, it said. According to the foundation, it is estimated that between 32,000 and 58,000 koalas still live on the fifth continent today. In 2018 it was between 46,000 and 82,000.
Tens of thousands of animals fell victim to the forest fires
The devastating bushfires in the summer of 2019/2020 would have contributed significantly to the decimation of eucalyptus eaters, said AKF chairwoman Deborah Tabart. In December, the WWF announced that more than 60,000 koalas were likely killed, injured, displaced or traumatized in the fires. However, this is not the only reason for the decline: Droughts, heat waves and lack of water also threatened the animals, according to Tabart. “I’ve seen some landscapes that look like the moon – with dead and dying trees all over the place.”
Above all, the clearing of land for agriculture, housing and mining is deadly for the koalas, which are only native to Australia, said the expert. It is important to stop the clearing of koala habitats “to protect our beloved national animal from danger,” emphasized Tabart.