Koalas Functionally Extinct After 80 Percent Of Habitat Is Destroyed In Wildfires

Nov 30, 2019 by apost team

Their big fluffy ears, sweet little eyes, and tree-hugging habits have made them iconic symbols of cuteness and cuddles. Today, future generations of humans are at serious risk of never seeing a koala in the wild again.

According to chairman of the Australian Koala Foundation Deborah Tabart, over 1,000 koalas have been killed in the last two months alone due to the recent Australian bushfires. These fires have destroyed some 80 percent of the koala’s natural habitat, leaving the koala “functionally extinct" as reported here in The Metro.

What does functionally extinct mean? The Australian Koala Foundation recently described the predicament to BBC, saying they believe only 80,000 or less koalas remain in existence, which is a number that wouldn’t leave enough pairs to support creating a future generation.

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According to Tabart, only 18,000 or less koalas exist in the New South Wales (NSW.) Any significant loss in such a stronghold is disastrous. For Tabart, functionally extinct translates to a living koala may be having a single joey in the future and that joey then possibly not having their own joey. If not, the species is functionally extinct.

The koala population declines are the result of a mixture of deforestation, heatwaves, and dehydration, and bushfires wreaking havoc on the Queensland and South Wales areas.

Tabart adds that the surviving koalas are facing a habitat that’s been largely destroyed and depleted of natural resources like eucalyptus trees. It takes months for a eucalyptus to grow back, which is time surviving koalas don’t have the luxury of waiting out.

Tabart is urging the Australian government to act now. She says that this plight falls on the prime minister’s shoulders, and she’s asking the 2016 Koala Protection Act be put in place, as detailed here in a press release at Save The Koala.

Fires are still burning in NSW and Queensland, and the Australian summer has only just begun, so the plight of the koala might be even worse than Tabart’s “functionally extinct.”

Tell us your thoughts in the comment section. If you feel impassioned to help the kolas, pass this information along to others. The more who know and speak out, the more likely authorities are to act for the koalas.