Koalas pushed to the brink of extinction by drought and bush fires, animal welfare groups say – Telegraph.co.uk

Drought, fires and land clearing have pushed Australias iconic koala to the brink of extinction, animal welfare groups warned on Sunday,with last year's bush fires killing thousands of the animals.

The groups are urging Australia's national government to classify the marsupial as endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory after research from two major conservation groups revealed a dramatic collapse in the koala population in the past 20 years.

WWF-Australia found that since 2001, the number of koalas in Queensland has been cut in half, while in New South Wales numbers may have declined by up to 62 percent, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Drought anddeforestation-along with the related problem of bush fires - were the main factors driving the collapse, according to WWF-Australia scientist Dr Stuart Blanch, who added that the situation was worse than we thought.

We have gone from [koalas] not being a threatened species to [potentially] being listed as an endangered species on the east coast within a decade - I would never have thought that was possible. I never thought we would be losing them so quickly, he told SBS News.

Raising the threat level to endangered would increase the protection for forests and woodlands where koalas live, mobilise fundsand, hopefully, increase public support for the species. Koalas are the canaries of our forests. If we lose koalas, it means our forests are disappearing as well, warned Dr Blanch.

He said raising the level to endangered was inevitable but must happen as soon as possible.

The devastating bush fires of 2019-20 contributed heavily to the problem, according to the research. The report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare found that at least 6,382 koalas were killed in New South Wales between the start of the bush fire season and February 13, representing 15 percent of the region's koalas.

That added to the enormous stress on the population due to land clearing, urban development and drought, with numbers declining by up to 62 percent since 2001.

IFAW wildlife campaigner Josey Sharrad said the death toll is a conservative estimate which doesn't include the number of koalas that will die because their habitats have been destroyed by fires. The surviving koalas have nowhere to go, she said.

Sue Ashton, of the Koala Hospital in Macquarie, New South Wales, told The Telegraph that drought severely depleted the food supply forkoalas, a problem exacerbated by bush fires.

They get about 65 percent of their hydration from leaves [but] because of the drought the leaves are too dry, she said. Koalas desperate for food may venture across roads and into peoples backyards, putting them at risk of being killed by traffic or dogs.

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Koalas pushed to the brink of extinction by drought and bush fires, animal welfare groups say - Telegraph.co.uk