Koalas Now Endangered After 'Shockingly Fast Decline'

Conservationists say they could end up extinct if habitat loss continues
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 11, 2022 8:40 AM CST
Koalas Are Officially an Endangered Species
Koalas have been declared officially endangered in eastern Australia as they fall prey to disease, lost habitat, and other threats.   (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

One of Australia's most iconic animals is now an endangered species in much of its range. The country's federal government has declared the koala endangered in New South Wales, Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory after a steep decline in numbers. The marsupial was declared vulnerable in those areas in 2012. "Koalas have gone from no-listing to vulnerable to endangered within a decade. That is a shockingly fast decline," conservation scientist Stuart Blanch tells the BBC. Conservationists say koala numbers are also dropping in South Australia and Victoria. In September, the Australian Koala Foundation estimated that the county's koala population had fallen by almost a third over three years.

Koalas are facing multiple threats, some of them connected to climate change. Thousands of koalas died in wildfires in 2019. "The impact of prolonged drought, followed by the black summer bushfires, and the cumulative impacts of disease, urbanization, and habitat loss over the past twenty years have led to the advice," environment minister Sussan Ley said Friday, per the Guardian. She said a koala recovery plan will include efforts to protect the animal's woodland habitat. Blanch says that while the new designation is welcome, it won't save the koala unless it is "accompanied by stronger laws and landholder incentives to protect their forest homes."

Deborah Tabart, chairwoman of the Australian Koala Foundation, said the government isn't doing enough to address deforestation and other threats, the New York Times reports. "Behind all the photo opportunities and political rhetoric they continue to approve the destruction of the koala habitat," she said, adding: "If the clearing of the koala habitat continues, a further status change is imminent—from endangered to extinct." It's not clear how many koalas remain in the wild, but conservation groups believe the number could now be below 50,000. (Chlamydia is also a major threat to koalas, but researchers are working on a vaccination program.)

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