Scientists have issued out a warning about koalas.
New figures from the Australian Koala Foundation said that koalas could become extinct in the upcoming years as there are only 30,000 of them left in the wild.,
Australia is home to around 32,000 to 58,000 koalas, which is down from between 46,000 and 82,000 in 2018.
The thing is, there used to be 8 million koalas in Australia when the European Settlement began.
The furry marsupial’s numbers are constantly plunging.
Deborah Tabart, the chair of the non-profit group, said:
There used to be five electorates with more than 5000 animals and now there’s only two and it’s shocking that it’s happened in just three years.
Koalas are found in the southeast part of Australia from mid-north Queensland through New South Wales, Victoria and to South Australia.
The data from the group shows the animal is now extinct in the Riverina Electorate, which is the centre of the Koalas habitat.
In South Australia, it is estimated that there are only under a thousand left.
The koala is also officially extinct in 47 electorates in South Australia.
The electorate of Mayo in South Australia is the only one that has a koala population.
Professor of ecology Corey Bradshaw at the Flinders University, said:
When they go extinct is up for debate, but whether they will go extinct is not really up for debate anymore. Habitats have been cleared… fragmented by roads and development. [There’s] genetic problems and diseases… dogs and cars. Add bushfires, and there’s not a lot of long term hope for that species in particular.
Right now, the koala is listed as a vulnerable animal under the Australian Government’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act in Queensland and NSW.
This is extremely sad on so many levels.