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Australia’s koalas are facing a number of threats, including disease, global warming and deforestation that destroys their habitat. (Photo: Getty)
Australian Environment Minister Sussan Ley has accepted a recommendation from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee that koala populations in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) should be given a higher level of conservation status.
The listing of koalas as endangered reflects the urgency of the species’ plight.
The decision comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government announced last month that it would spend $50 million to protect the country’s iconic koalas. Environmental groups have welcomed the move, but said it would be “a drop in the bucket” if the root causes of koala decline are not addressed.
Along with listing the koala as endangered, the Australian government is expected to adopt a national recovery plan for the much-loved animal, said Sussan Ley.
The recovery plan identifies the key threats to koalas and outlines the actions needed to prevent their extinction.
Environmental groups have long stressed the need to upgrade the conservation status of koalas, with some proposing that the animals be listed as endangered.
“The koala has gone from unlisted to ‘endangered’ in just a decade. That is a shockingly rapid decline for one of the world’s most iconic animals,” said Dermot O’Gorman, CEO of WWF Australia.
Mr O’Gorman said there was still time to save the koala if listing it as endangered was a turning point in conservation efforts. He said stronger laws were needed, along with incentives for landowners to protect koala habitat in the forest.
