Australia Officially Adds Koalas to the List of Endangered Animals All

KOMPAS.com – Government Australia has officially set koala as endangered animals. This decision was taken after a significant decline in koala numbers due to various factors, including land clearing.

Australia’s Minister for the Environment, Susan Ley, announced that she had received a recommendation from the endangered species scientific committee, stating that koala populations in Queensland, New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) should be upgraded to conservation status.

“Today I am increasing protection for koalas in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland, by listing koalas as endangered (animals) previously referred to as ‘vulnerable’,” said Ley.

He added that the impact of the prolonged drought in the region, Forest firesdisease, urbanization, and the loss of the koala’s natural habitat over the last twenty years are the reasons for the government to designate it as an endangered animal.

Also read: Facts about the Tasmanian Devil, an Aggressive Mammal that is Endangered

Ley said officials had also designed a recovery plan for the koala. They are currently assessing a land development application and its impact on koalas.

Reported from The GuardianThursday (10/2/2022) various parties also urged that the koala immediately become an endangered animal, because the government is considered to have failed to protect the animal. endemic the Australian.

The marsupial was declared a ‘vulnerable’ category in Australian states in 2012. Despite the dire situation, the government was accused of being slow to act.

For a long time environmental groups in Australia such as Humane Society International (HSI), WWF Australia and International Fund for Animal Welfare said that the conservation status of koalas should be improved. This can be done by registering it as an endangered animal.

“The koala’s (conservation status) has gone from unlisted to vulnerable to being declared critically endangered on Australia’s east coast within a decade. That is a very rapid decline,” said WWF-Australia chief executive Dermot O’Gorman.

According to research conducted in New South Wales last year, researchers concluded that koalas will become extinct in 2050, if no concrete action is taken.

That is, by including koalas on the list of endangered animals, it will provide protection for them to prevent their extinction.

Also read: Kamasutra Satwa: Too Much Sleep, How Do Koalas Mating?

The research team warns that climate change, land fires, flooding, or clearing koalas’ natural habitat for project development can reduce the quality of eucalyptus which is the main food of koalas.

Senior campaign manager at HSI, Alexia Wellbelove said Minister Ley’s decision should encourage the Australian government to do more to tackle the environmental decline of the koala species.

“This is a signal for the government to really take a stand against the continued clearing of habitat for koalas.”

As reported by BBC IndonesiaFriday (11/2/2022) forest fires during the ‘Black Summer’ of 2019 to 2020 reportedly killed as many as 5,000 koalas, and caused the destruction of 24 percent of koala habitat in New South Wales.

Koala can also be found in South Australia and Victoria, but various conservation groups note their numbers are declining nationally.

Also read: Australian Fires End, Koalas Begin to Be Released Back into the Wild

Get updates news of choice and breaking news every day from Kompas.com. Let’s join the Telegram group “Kompas.com News Update”, how to click the link https://t.me/kompascomupdate, then join. You must first install the Telegram application on your cellphone.–