Koala Listed As Endangered After Australia Fails To Halt Its Decline

"No recovery plan for the Australian marsupial was in place despite it being identified as a requirement nine years ago".

"The Australian government has officially listed the koala as endangered after a decline in its numbers due to land clearing and catastrophic bushfires shrinking its habitat.

The environment minister, Sussan Ley, accepted the recommendation of the threatened species scientific committee that the koala populations of Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory should have their conservation status upgraded.

The stronger listing under national law is recognition that the koala’s plight has become more urgent and that successive Australian governments have failed to turn the much-loved animal’s circumstances around since it was listed as vulnerable in 2012."

Lisa Cox reports for the Guardian February 10, 2022.

Source: Guardian, 02/11/2022