Australia’s iconic marsupial is at risk from shrinking habitats, road traffic and dog attacks – and increasingly, global warming By Neena Bhandari for IPS, part of the Guardian Environment Network 30 April 2013 SYDNEY (guardian.co.uk) – Australia’s iconic marsupial is under threat. Formerly hunted almost to extinction for their woolly coats, koalas are now struggling […]
By Saffron Howden1 May 2012 IN THE absence of any exact figure, Gunnedah’s koala population is best measured by the number spotted on the three kilometre drive from town to the local sanctuary. Five years ago, three or four sightings were not uncommon. Now, ”you’d be lucky” to see one, says Nancy Small, who has […]
October 27 (AAP) – The NSW government is failing to protect koalas by allowing logging in remaining habitats, the opposition says. Environment spokesman Luke Foley accused Environment Minister Robyn Parker of breaking an election promise to protect koalas after logging went ahead at the Bermagui State Forest on the south coast. Logging also started last […]
By Brian Williams, The Courier-Mail13 September 2011 HERE’S evidence you do not have to be big and tough to survive everything Mother Nature can throw at you. This endangered mahogany glider survived February’s devastating Cyclone Yasi at Cardwell in north Queensland. With little cover in her tree-top home, she made it through weeks of rain […]
By John PlattJan 18, 2011 04:55 PM Are Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) doomed to extinction in the wild? The infectious cancer known as devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) has killed off as much as 90 percent of the world’s Tasmanian devils since it was first observed in 1996 (up from 70 percent when we last […]
By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.comJuly 19, 2010 Kakadu National Park, one of the Australia’s “largest and best-resourced” protected areas, is experiencing a staggering decline in its small mammal population, according to a new study published in Wildlife Research. Spanning nearly 2 million hectares—larger than Fiji—the park lies in tropical northern Australia. “This decline is catastrophic,” John […]
By JENNIE CURTINMarch 30, 2010 LOGGING has started in a forest containing the only known colony of koalas on the far south coast, despite warnings the work could threaten the marsupials. Forests NSW began harvesting timber for woodchipping and high-quality logs in the Mumbulla State Forest near Bega. Work is expected to continue for six […]
By BEN CUBBYJanuary 25, 2010 LOGGING is set to start within weeks in a forest that supports the last known koala colony on the NSW far south coast. The NSW Government is yet to release data from a comprehensive survey of koala habitat and population in Mumbulla and Murrah state forests, near Tathra, even though […]
AAP — Koalas are highly vulnerable to climate change and face starvation, a leading conservation group has warned. The koala – an Australian icon known the world over – has made it on to a global list of 10 well-known species threatened by climate change, along with the fish that inspired the cartoon character, Nemo. […]
Researchers Deborah Tabart and Hugh Possingham on the demise of koalas 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 […]