Australia: Koala Populations Declining Dramatically
Following the federal government's 2006 decision not to classify the koala as "endangered," the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) concluded that, in order to protect the species, we need to know precisely how many koalas remain in the wild and where they are located. This gave rise to Bob's Map (named after the former chairman of the AKF), a project based on the best available scientific knowledge with the specific goal of estimating and monitoring the national koala population.
The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) has published alarming figures showing that the national animal is experiencing a rapid decline.
According to the new study, the number of Australian marsupials is declining rapidly, having shrunk by 30% since 2018.
The AKF is the first organisation to count the koala population in each of the 128 federal electoral districts where koalas have existed or previously existed since European settlement.
Koala populations have declined across all regions of the country, but most severely in the eastern state of New South Wales, the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) announced on Monday, 20 September 2021. There, the number has dropped by as much as 41%. The koala is now extinct in 47 electoral districts, and only one district, Mayo, has more than 5’000 koalas.
According to the foundation, an estimated 32,065 to 57,920 koalas now remain on the fifth continent. In 2018, the figure was still between 45,745 and 82,170. The devastating bushfires of the 2019/2020 summer had contributed significantly to the decimation of the endearing eucalyptus-eaters, said AKF chairwoman Deborah Tabart. The WWF had announced in December that more than 60,000 koalas had likely been killed, injured, displaced, or traumatised in the fires.
However, this is not the only reason for the decline: droughts, heat waves, and water shortages also threaten the animals, according to Tabart. «I have seen some landscapes that look like the moon – with dead and dying trees everywhere.» Above all, the clearing of land for agriculture, housing, and mining is «deadly» for koalas, which are found only in Australia, said the expert.
We know that offset measures don't work and we also know that displaced koalas die. Urgent action is needed to stop land clearing in the best koala habitats if we want to save our beloved national animal from extinction. Deborah Tabart
The study is the result of $15 million and 28 years of research. The data illustrates in a simple and compelling way the dramatic impact humans have had on the landscape, and the devastating losses the country has suffered since Europeans first settled Australia. This concerns not only the trees lost over the past 229 years, but also the impact of this habitat loss on millions of species, on the soil and water, the climate, and on overall quality of life.
Added value:
- Study: Koala Population Estimates
