Is koala extinction a possibility?
Sadly, the short answer is ‘yes’. Without positive action, koala extinction along Australia’s east coast is a real risk, meaning saving koalas has never been more important.
Koala populations have been in serious decline since 2001. On top of prolonged drought, climate change and and 20 years of disease, it’s urbanisation and habitat loss that has impacted koalas the most.
Since 2012, almost 34,000 hectares of koala habitat has been approved for clearing by the Federal Government and the Black Summer fires of 2019-20 made things significantly worse. More than 12 million hectares of the forest bushland which koalas rely on to survive was destroyed in one season.
This forced the Australian Government to ‘upgrade’ the koalas’ conservation status from ‘vulnerable’ to ‘endangered’ in Queensland, NSW and the ACT, in 2022. However, some organisations are calling for the koala’s status to be upgraded to ‘critically endangered’ in specific regions, including the South East Queensland Bioregion, arguing that they are already functionally extinct in certain areas.
Animal welfare and conservation groups say the fact that koalas on Australia’s east coast are now officially recognised as being endangered is a grim but important outcome if it triggers stronger protections.
Bangalow Koalas has been actively involved in koala habitat restoration since 2019. To date, we’ve planted more than 410,000 trees in our bid to create a koala wildlife corridor across NSW’s Northern Rivers region and we need your help to reach our ‘500,000 by 2025’ target.