100s Of Koalas Burned To Death In 4,500-Acre NSW Bushfire, And The Fire Season Is Young Down Under

Body of a dead koala killed by forest fire Australia’s east coast, 30 October 2019. Photo: The Mirror

More than 350 koalas are feared to have been killed by bushfires in Australia’s New South Wales state, animal experts say. The blazes — which have been burning near the coastal township of Port Macquarie since Monday — have destroyed more than 2,000 hectares (4,492 acres) of koala heartland, CNN affiliate 9News reported.

Local animal experts Koala Hospital Port Macquarie said the fires have “decimated” the area, which is a key habitat and breeding ground for the creatures.

As few as 43,000 of the marsupials are left in the wild in Australia, according to the Australian Koala Foundation (AFK).

Listed by the Australian government as “vulnerable,” the tree-dwelling creatures are in serious decline due to habitat destruction, bushfires, road accidents and dog attacks, the AFK says. “So far over two thirds of the current footprint of the fire is prime koala habitat (or was),” Koala Hospital Port Macquarie said in a statement on Facebook.


Smoke rises from the Darwank fires near Forster-Tuncurry on the New South Wales mid north coast, 30 October 2019. Photo: Martin Von Stroll

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https://desdemonadespair.net/2019/10/hundreds-of-koalas-perish-as-australia-bushfires-rage-this-is-just-a-national-tragedy.html