- The report, released by WWF Australia and the Nature Conservation Council (NCC), used select satellite images of northern NSW to assess land clearing and its impact on vulnerable and endangered species.
- WWF Australia estimates there are likely less than 20,000 koalas left in NSW and at the current rate, they are on track to be extinct in the state by as early as 2050.
- Koalas are the most-loved and iconic of Australian wild animals
- They spend much of their lives in their eucalyptus food trees where they sleep through the day and spend a few hours consuming leaves during the evening
- Koalas are expert climbers
- koalas measure about 60cm to 85cm long, and weigh about 14kg.
- Although you may have heard people call them koala ‘bears’, these awesome animals aren’t bears at all – they are in fact marsupials. A group of mammals, most marsupials have pouches where their newborns develop.
- Eucalyptus is one of Australia’s most identifiable trees and is critically important to biodiversity and environmental sustainability
- Reasons behind the extinction of Koalas
1. Since European colonization, koalas, which have been living in Australia for 25 million years, have lost their habitats as a result of urban, agricultural and mining development, climate change, and the commercialization of their skins until the 1930s.
2.The state government in 2017 decided to repeal the Native Vegetation Act 2003, which prevented farmers from felling trees. The report concludes that this was likely the major reason behind the dramatic surge in the forest and woodland destruction in this known clearing hotspot.
3.The koalas are threatened by destruction of food and shelter trees and forest fragmentation, which exposes them to higher mortalities from vehicle strike, dog attacks, and stress.
4. In some areas, koalas have also died due to Chlamydia, a bacterial infection that causes injuries to the genitals and eyes, causing infertility and blindness, slowly consuming them to death.
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