Climate change and the resulting wildfires pose an immediate, ongoing and significant threat of extinction
to the koala population in the state, the report argues.
The bushfires burned 5.1 million hectares (12.6 million acres) of land in New South Wales.
Josey Sharrad, IFAW campaigner, said: “Koalas were already living on the brink before these fires, with
populations declining in many areas due to excessive land clearing, disease and roadkill, and local
extinctions already known to have occurred. This disaster and the ongoing nature of the threats could push
koalas over the edge.
“This is a koala emergency. Koalas must be immediately uplisted to endangered on an emergency basis, and
a moratorium on all harmful activities impacting koalas enforced to allow surviving populations some
breathing space while their capacity to recover is further assessed.”
The study’s analysis covered 15 weeks from 1 October 2019 to 10 January 2020 and is described as a
“conservative” estimate.
The conservationists warned that further assessment, covering the month to 10 February, means the final
figures are expected to be even worse. They also said that the hundreds of thousands of hectares of habitat
that were not burnt but were rendered unsuitable for koalas as a result of dry conditions had not been
taken into account.
PA