Koalas Listed as Threatened Species
May 3, 2012
The government of Australia has, for the first time, listed koalas as a vulnerable species in the states of New South Wales and Queensland and in the Australia Capital Territory. Australia’s federal government lists threatened species in three categories: vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered. The vulnerable classification means that governments in the three areas must take koala populations into account when evaluating applications by developers.
A female koala carries her joey (young) on her back. The joey spends its first seven months in the mother's pouch and the next six riding on her back. (Dave Watts, Tom Stack & Associates)
Conservationists welcomed the listing as a significant benefit in protecting koala populations from threats ranging from habitat loss and urban development to mining and climate change. They noted, however, that the listing does not protect koalas in certain areas being logged in New South Wales. Conservations also argued that the declaration should have been national in scope.
Estimates of the current size of the koala population vary from several hundred thousand to as few as 43,000. Conservationists estimate that the animal’s numbers in New South Wales and Queensland have fallen by as much as 40 percent since 1990. Native to Australia, koalas are marsupials whose diet consists of the leaves of the eucalyptus tree. They can sleep up to 20 hours a day.
Additional World Book articles:
- Conservation
- Wildlife conservation
- History of Attempts to Save Species (a special report)
- Threatened Species Around the World (a special report)
