Australia has lost about 30% of its koalas over the past three years, hit by drought, bushfires and developers cutting down trees.

An independent non-profit group "Australian Koala Foundation" estimated that the koala population has dropped to less than 58,000 this year from more than 80,000 in 2018, with the worst decline in the state of New South Wales, where the numbers have dropped by 41%.

The decline in New South Wales is likely accelerated after huge swathes of forest were devastated in bushfires in late 2019 and early 2020, but some of those areas already had no koalas.”What we’re concerned about is places like western New South Wales where the drought over the last ten years has just had this cumulative effect – river systems completely dry for years, river red gums, which are the lifeblood of koalas, dead,”Chairman of Koala Foundation Tabart said.

The Australian government in June called for public comment on a national recovery plan for New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory around Canberra and whether the koala’s threatened species protection status should be raised from “vulnerable” to “endangered”.

Besides the impact of drought and fires, land clearing by property developers and road builders has destroyed the iconic marsupial’s habitat.

Note : Koalas have very limited capability to adapt to rapid, human-induced climate change, making them very vulnerable to its negative impacts. Koalas are particularly vulnerable to the effects of elevated CO2 levels on plant nutritional quality, as they rely on them for food.

Why protecting Koala is important ?

Koalas consume the excess vegetation in the eucalyptus forests where they live, therefore, reduce the biomass that fuels frequent and intense fires during dry season.

During the rainy season, koala droppings act as nutrients for the regeneration of undergrowth and also serve as food for insects and small rodents.

As the koalas feed, they break branches and drop leaves, making them available to ground insects.

Koalas are also an important part of food chain as they serve as prey for large carnivores in the ecosystem.

Protecting koalas is thus, equivalent to conserving the forests inhabited by them that act as a carbon sink.