Fire-hit koalas may go on endangered species list

Matt Kean says NSW’s threatened species scientific committee is considering elevating the marsupial’s status from ‘vulnerable’ to ‘endangered’.

Koalas would be listed as an ­endangered species in NSW after the summer’s unprecedented bushfires, under plans that are being considered by the Berejik­lian government.

Environment Minister Matt Kean said on Friday the state’s threatened species scientific committee was considering elevating the marsupial’s status from “vulnerable” to “endangered”.

Mr Kean was asked during a parliamentary hearing whether the koala would be listed as endangered in 2020 as a result of the fires. “My understanding is that the threatened species advisory panel is looking at exactly that ... there have been a number of requests for it to do so,” he told the budget estimates hearing.

“I’ll let the experts make those decisions — they’re best placed to do so and I’ll look forward to seeing what they come up with and respond accordingly.”

Work is being undertaken “to determine whether or not as a result of these bushfires the status of the koala should be lifted,” Mr Kean said.

It follows calls for koalas to be declared endangered after a report found it was likely 5000 died in NSW during the bushfires. The report by the Inter­national Fund for Animal Welfare and ecological consultant group Biolink looked at how the fires affected the state’s declining koala population. Data published on Wednesday found more than 5 million hectares had burnt and at least 5000 koalas had died from October last year to January 10.

IFAW wildlife campaigner Josey Sharrad said this was a conservative estimate, with further research to cover the impact of the bushfires to February 10. She said the research did not include the number of koalas that would die because their habitats had been destroyed by fire.

AAP