Posts tagged "koalas endangered"

As far as national mascots go, Australia's is one of the cutest, but unfortunately, the cuddly critters are also seriously endangered. Australia's koalas could become extinct in as little as 30 years, reports Agence France-Presse.

The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) found that koala numbers have dropped significantly in the last six years. A recent survey of almost 2,000 forest sites around Australia estimates the population might be as high as 80,000, but could possibly be as low as 43,000. Either way, that's a drop from 100,000 in 2003, the AFP reported.

AKF chief Deborah Tabart described to the AFP the many factors that are to blame for the decline, including loss of habitat, climate change, and disease. Clearing forests for human settlement and agriculture stresses the animals and forces them to compete for food, and when humans move into formerly forested areas, many koalas are killed by pet dogs or traffic collisions. Hot, dry weather has increased bush fires that endanger the animals, and has lead to drought conditions that have reduced nutrients in eucalyptus, the favorite food of koalas. On top of all that, a large outbreak of chlamydia has also killed large numbers of the country's koalas.

Tabart told the AFP that all of these factors could drive the species to extinction by 2040.

Australia's threatened species committee is scheduled to make a recommendation about koala conservation by the middle of 2010, reports the AFP. In the meantime, we'll be crossing our fingers for the fuzzy-eared pseudo-bears.