Last summer, thousands of koalas were killed in Australian’s wildfires that destroyed over 45 million acres of bush that they call home. Now, conservation groups in Australia are asking the government to declare koalas endangered because of the significant population drop. There is a real possibility that koalas may face extinction now.
A new report from the conservation group IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), used satellite imagery and witness accounts to calculate the destruction to the koala population. It estimated that roughly 5,000 koalas died, which is 12% of the koala population in New South Wales (NSW). Meanwhile, a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report found that around 10,000 koalas died in NSW, which would account for one-third of the koala population. Either way, that’s a lot of koalas!
Lead research scientist, Dr. Stephen Philips, said:
We’ve taken a conservative approach. But we still think that we have lost two out of every three koalas in NSW. It’s a spectacular loss in terms of conservation criteria and meets endangered listing almost immediately.
Dr. Philips is a koala ecologist at the environmental consultancy Biolink, which compiled the IFAW report. The report also found that certain areas where fire was most intense were most difficult for koalas to escape to safety. According to the report’s executive summary, those areas of severe burning saw at least 70% of the koala population decease.
Josey Sharrad, from IFAW, explained:
Koalas are particularly vulnerable to bushfires as they are slow-moving and live in eucalyptus trees that burn quickly and intensely. When fires sweep through their homes, they often don’t have time to escape, particularly in intense crown fires that rage through the treetops where they live.
Even before the summer’s wildfires wiped out a significant number of the koalas they were already experiencing a 20% population drop over the last 18 years, which is around three generations.
Sharrad said:
Our koalas only stand a chance if we help. They are literally fighting for their survival. This rapid destruction of koala habitat, combined with climate change, is inflicting substantial stress and pushing the species towards extinction.
Some believe the significant losses mean that the koalas will go extinct by 2050. Stuart Blanch, a conservation scientist with the WWF, is one of them. He argues that the marsupials should receive protective status. “What I’ve heard from people doing the surveys is that we might have lost 10,000 koalas from the fires and the droughts. It’s brought forward a 2050 extinction projected timeline for most of the populations across the state by years,” warned Blanch.
IFAW’s report backs up Blanch’s assessment, as it stated “an immediate, ongoing and significant threat of extinction.” The report found that koalas are more than qualified for a temporary listing as Endangered on an emergency basis under the New South Wales Biodiversity Conservation Act of 2016.
