Australia officially listed koalas as ‘endangered’ today. Blame it on the 2019-2020 fires, which decimated the country’s marsupial population.
It is an endangered symbol. Koalas across much of Australia’s eastern seaboard are now officially listed as ‘endangered’. Environment Minister Sussan Ley made the move to provide them with a higher level of protection in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland.
Endangered in some areas
The koalas had already been classified as “vulnerable” a decade ago. But recent fires (2019 and 2020) have weakened the population, causing bush fires, drought and disease. According to conservationists, the koala is even on the verge of extinction in certain regions of Australia.
If they welcomed the announcement of the Minister of the Environment, they also denounced the failure of the authorities to protect the species so far. For Alexia Wellbelove, of the Humane Society International, koalas on the east coast could disappear by 2050 if nothing is done. The Scientific Committee for Endangered Species has estimated that the koala population has increased from 185,000 in 2001 to 92,000 in 2021.
Dylan Vandevoorde
