Koalas are one of the symbols of Australia, and for several years now they have been in danger: their population continues to decline, this is the alarm of scientists.
Raise your hand if you have never been moved by the funny and amusing faces of someone Koala: These cute mammals, which have become one of the symbols of Australia, are now in serious danger and scientists are looking for a strategy to preserve their ever-decreasing population. Koalas are indeed facing numerous threats to their ecosystem, which pose a serious risk to their very survival. Here’s what we know.
The threats that endanger koalas
Once upon a time, koalas were hunted for their valuable fur: today we are far away (apart from a few unpleasant exceptions) from this behaviour, especially because the mammals are considered at risk of extinction. Their proliferation in Australia was mainly due to the adaptation strategy that led them – almost unique among other mammal species – to feed on eucalyptus leaves for their subsistence. Therefore, having no rivals for food, they were able to reproduce easily. But something has happened in recent years.
In 2012 their species was considered vulnerable, and a slightly later study showed that koalas declined by 24% across Australia in just three generations. More recent research, which also takes into account the severe forest fires that have wiped out hectares of koala habitat, reveals that (at least in some areas of Australia) their population has dropped by as much as 50%. What are the most serious threats that these cute animals have to face?
Until now, experts believed there were five: the deforestation, the massive use of wood, attacks by wild dogs, road accidents and chlamydia, a bacterial disease that can cause infertility in both women and men. However, in recent years another threat has been added, that linked to climate change. Which, as time passes, is becoming the most dangerous of all. The increase in temperatures and humidity, together with the water shortage, can cause acute stress during heat waves. Koalas also generate heat while eating: they usually take advantage of the cool night time to lower their temperature, but in hot weather they are no longer able to do so. And this could damage their internal organs.
How to save Australian koalas
Saving koalas becomes a categorical imperative: but how can we do it? First, it’s difficult to get a fairly accurate idea of how many exemplars exist. According to some national estimates, the Australian east coast should have a population of between 117 thousand and 244 thousand koalas. One of the initiatives adopted to prevent the species from heading towards extinction involves the identification of the animal’s genome and the areas in which the presence of healthy genetics has been noted: in this way, it will be possible to understand where work to reverse the current trendor the decrease in population.
The experts’ goal is to prevent koalas from reaching the “vortex of extinction”, that moment in which the specimens are so closely related to each other that they stop reproducing. “We should be ashamed. We are the world’s leading exporter of fossil fuels and the only developed country that is still a hot spot for deforestation, and it is not yet illegal to destroy the places where koalas live” – said the Dr. Stuart Blanchenvironmental scientist and forest policy manager at WWF Australia.
