Australia warns koalas 'endangered' as numbers plunge

Australia's koalas had been living on a "knife edge" even before the devastating "Black Summer" bushfires of 2019-2020

Australia officially listed koalas across a swathe of its eastern coast as "endangered" on Friday, with the marsupials fighting to survive the impact of bushfires, land-clearing, drought and disease.

Conservationists said koala populations had crashed in much of eastern Australia over the past two decades, warning that they were now sliding towards extinction.

The koala, a globally recognised symbol of Australia's unique wildlife, had been listed as "vulnerable" on the eastern coast just a decade earlier.

Environmentalists welcomed the koalas' new status but condemned Australia's failure to protect the species so far.

"Today's decision is welcome but it won't stop koalas from sliding towards extinction unless it's accompanied by stronger laws and landholder incentives to protect their forest homes."

But estimates by an independent government advisory body -- the Threatened Species Scientific Committee -- indicated that koala numbers had slumped from 185,000 in 2001 to just 92,000 in 2021.

Alexia Wellbelove of the Humane Society International said east coast koalas could be extinct by 2050 if no action was taken. 

The Australian Conservation Foundation said its own research showed that the federal government had approved the clearing of more than 25,000 hectares of koala habitat since the species was declared vulnerable a decade ago.

"The extinction of koalas does not have to happen," Stasak added.

Australia's koalas had been living on a "knife edge" even before the devastating "Black Summer" bushfires of 2019-2020 because of land-clearing, drought, disease, car strikes and dog attacks, said Josey Sharrad, wildlife campaign manager at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

"The bushfires were the final straw. This must be a wake-up call to Australia and the government to move much faster to protect critical habitat from development and land-clearing and seriously address the impacts of climate change."

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