Koalas ‘could face extinction’
Australia’s koalas could be wiped out within 30 years unless urgent action is taken to halt a decline in population, according to researchers.
They say development, climate change and bushfires have all combined to send the numbers of wild koalas plummeting.
The Australian Koala Foundation said a recent survey showed the population could have dropped by more than half in the past six years.
Many have been killed by the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia.
Previous estimates put the number of koalas at more than 100,000 – but the latest calculations suggest there could now be as few as 43,000.
The foundation collected field data from 1,800 sites and 80,000 trees to calculate the numbers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8352107.stm
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I think that I’ve heard the number of Panda bears is decreasing. But I didn’t know this news very well. It is a sad thing to see Koala bears suffering.
Hi Yuko.
It’s sad to see the koalas suffering. The number of Tasmanian devils has also fallen in recent years.
When I was a kid, we used to say “koala bear” but they decided that was wrong, since koalas aren’t bears. So now in English we just say “koala”, not “koala bear.”