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A report was released today entitled "The Koala - Saving our National Icon'. I was astounded to learn that the Koala (it is NOT a bear) is regarded as 'common'. It is quite rare, in my experience, to see a Koala in the wild.
The Environmental Species Protection Act (1992) follows international practice, categorising our fauna as either:
ExtinctThe report tabled today recommends the Koala be categorised as 'vulnerable'.
Extinct in the Wild
Critically Endangered
Endangered
Vulnerable
Conservation Dependant
Near Threatened
Least Concern
Since European settlement in 1788 the Koala population has declined from in excess of 10 million to 43,000. Drought, land-clearing, urban development, wildfires and diseases such as chlamydia and the koala retrovirus were all factors, but the single greatest threat was habitat loss.
Learn more than you need to know about the Koala at The Australian Koala Foundation.
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23 comments:
They are a national treasure that definitely should be protected. Can't wait to show this delightful photo to my 9=year-old granddaughter.
We you captured this little guy all sacked out! Love his leg!
Julie, I always have the hardest time finding the place to click for a comment here. I'm know I'm old and addled but .....! :)
V
Such an amazing animal.
What an adorable photo of a napping koala! Oh, it makes you just want to scoop him up and rock him like a baby! - I can't believe that the koala is not on the endangered species list with a such a drop in numbers as that!
Wow, wonderful pictures!
I love koala.
I'm happy to follow your blog!
Silvia from Italy :-)
I agree with Rachel, such decline in numbers, the Koala should be listed as endangered. Thanks for showing me these facts and photos. Jo
They sure are cute, fury critters! I hope they make a big comeback!
I'm no arithmetician, so I can't figure out what fraction this is, but it seems to me to be a very small part of the original population.
Habitat loss is the biggest contributor to the extinction of species worldwide.
I would rate the koala "endangered"!
— K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
They are so adorable to see. I saw them in "the wild" in a parc in Australia and it was amazing, had never seen them before. They must be protected to keep them alive.
Gee .. I had no idea the Koala population had been decimated so much. I hope the decline can be reversed as this animal is truly an icon. Great photo Blinky Bill snoozing in the tree.
That first shot is just adorable.
Wherever i go in the bush I look for Koalas and never see them. Oh well they must be there somewhere.
Such a gorgeous photo of the sleeping Koala Julie, and makes it all the more important to do the right thing, those numbers are so frightening, we humans really are a bunch of a.....! as far as the environment goes!!
Wonderful photos of a special animal- and a great post- thanks Julia!
Chrissy
http://mancunianwave.blogspot.com/
So where did you get these photos ... in the zoo?
Regarding finding them in the wild they are often there if it is a spot which has the right type of eucalypts. But they are very very hard to spot as they are well camouflaged Even when someone says there's one and you stare at the tree they are pointing to its hard to pick which fork in the tree they are nestled in.
What a wonderful photo!
You've made my day happy.
Such extraordinary creatures, it's sad to know that they are vulnerable.
Love that first photo -too adorable. I remember reading a lot about koalas and this awful disease when I was in Oz and that was over 20 years ago. Thank goodness for the Foundation that cares for them. People should stop chopping down trees, of course!
The diseases of the Koala are nothing when compared with the face cancer of the Tassie Devil, though Jilly. That really is a disaster.
i suspect I worry too much about Koalas simply because they are so difficult to spot in the wild ... which is why I included the second shot, showing what one might be looking in vain for!
Yes, Joan, all these shots were from Taronga Zoo.
My granddaughter says that she loves the photos.
Thamk you for this feedback, Kate. I am heavily into providing pleasure for granddaughters!!
Now that's what you call relaxed. Gorgeous.
*grin*
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