Listing Of Koalas As Endangered In NSW, ACT & Queensland Pending After 2019-20 Fire Season
Koalas could soon be listed as endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory after bushfires smashed already struggling populations and destroyed precious habitat. A federal panel of threatened species experts has recommended the marsupial’s status be upgraded from vulnerable in each of the three jurisdictions.
Josey Sharrad from the International Fund for Animal Welfare described the move as bittersweet. “It confirms our fears koalas are on the road to extinction and need greater protections if they are going to survive into the future,” she said. Koalas were living on a knife edge before the fires, with numbers in severe decline due to land clearing, drought, disease, car strikes and dog attacks. “The bushfires were the final straw, hitting at the heart of already struggling koala populations and critical habitat.”
Koala populations in NSW have declined by between 33% and 61% since 2001 and at least 6,400 were killed in the Black Summer bushfires. Koalas could be extinct in NSW by 2050 unless urgent action is taken.
Queensland’s koala population has dropped by at least 50% since 2001 due to deforestation, drought and bushfires. Koala populations in both states, along with those in the ACT, were listed as vulnerable in 2012. They have since suffered ongoing pressures, including the consequences of land clearing.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/18/road-to-extinction-koalas-could-soon-be-listed-an-endangered-in-swathes-of-eastern-australia
