An out-of-control bushfire is threatening a prime koala breeding ground. Already rare in numbers, the Australian marsupial has long battled the threats of urbanization and land clearance.
Image: Imago Images/Anka Agency International
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More than 350 koalas are believed to have been burned alive in an out-of-control bushfire that has ravaged Australia's southeast coast, which has been plagued by drought.
The fire is thought to have been sparked by a lightning strike on Saturday near Port Macquarie, some 400 kilometers (248 miles) north of Sydney, igniting a fire that has scorched over 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) of prime koala habitat the last three days.
Port Macquarie Koala Hospital on Wednesday said rescuers in northern New South Wales state are concerned that hundreds of the "very rare" native Australian marsupial lost their lives in the fire zone, which was a prime koala habitat.
The koala organization said up to 60% koalas in the area may have been killed in the last three days as a result of the fire.
"The special importance of those koalas is that they are very genetically diverse," Sue Ashton, president of the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, told AFP.
"It's a national tragedy because this koala population is so unique," Ashton said, adding that the area of Lake Innes, south of Port Macquarie, was a very healthy breeding ground idyllic for the koala.
Ashton explained how human interference in the koala territories has resulted in decreased connectivity between populations, and increased inbreeding that has reduced genetic diversity in the eucalyptus leaf-eating herbivore.
Rescuers have deployed air tankers in an attempt to control the blaze, and firefighters and wildlife volunteers are working together to see how they can begin a rescue operation for surviving koalas.
"What happens to a koala in a fire is that they climb up to the top of the tree and they curl up into a little ball. If the fire goes through quickly and just singes their fur, they are fine; the fur will grow back," Ashton explained. If the fire continues to burn up the tree "they'll perish."
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) said that while conditions were easing, the blaze continued to spread because of a number of spot fires started by embers.
The World Wide for Nature Australia said in a 2018 report there were less than 20,000 koalas left in New South Wales and that the animal could face extinction in the state by 2050 largely because of excessive land clearance for the agricultural industry.
The Australia Koala Foundation estimates there are some 43,000 to 100,000 koalas remaining in the wild across Australia and warned that their classification should be raised to"critically endangered."
International biodiversity day: Asia's most threatened species
More than 27,000 species worldwide are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation and Nature. DW looks at some of the critically endangered Asian species, whose survival is at risk.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Lisnawati
Sumatran orangutan
The IUCN has classified the Sumatran orangutan, originally from Indonesia, as a critically endangered species. The Sumatran orangutan population is threatened by hunting and habitat loss. "Of the nine existing populations of Sumatran orangutans, only seven have prospects of long-term viability, each with an estimated 250 or more individuals," according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
According to the WWF, this Asian tiger species is almost extinct. Originally, this species could be found in parts of China. Around 60 of these tigers are now living in Chinese zoos.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Joe
Sunda pangolin
Sunda pangolin is one of the eight existing species of pangolins and is found throughout Southeast Asia. This species is facing moderate to severe threats of extinction. Sunda and Chinese pangolin are among the most threatened of all pangolins.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Lisnawati
Javan rhinoceros
The Javan rhinoceros, also known as the Sunda rhinoceros or one-horned rhinoceros, is a very rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae. Their horn is usually shorter than 25 centimeters and smaller than those of the other rhinoceros species. Only one population of Javan rhinoceros exists in the world now – in the Ujung Kulon National Park in western Java, Indonesia.
Image: Colourbox/Jean Vaillancourt
Sumatran tiger
This tiger species lives in the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It has been on the IUCN red list of endangered species since 2008. They are threatened by the habitat loss due to the expansion of palm oil plantations on the island.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Fabi
Wild Bactrian camel
Unlike the single-humped Arabian camel, Bactrian camels have two humps on their backs. This species is found in parts of northern China and southern Mongolia. It is facing threats from residential development, livestock farming and ranching.
Image: picture alliance/ZUMA Press/Chapman
Saiga
Saiga's natural habitat is grassland and desert. Today, the sub-species saiga tatarica is only found in some parts of Kazakhstan and Russia. Apart from livestock farming and ranching, droughts and extreme temperatures caused by climate change have also threatened its survival.
Image: Imago/blickwinkel
White-bellied heron
The white-bellied heron, also known as the imperial heron, is a species of large heron that can be found from the eastern Himalayas in India and Bhutan to the northeastern Bangladesh and Myanmar. The natural habitat of white-bellied heron is forest, wetlands and grassland. The species' survival is at risk due to residential development as well as hunting and trapping.
Image: Imago/Nature Picture Library/S. Kadur
Russian sturgeon
This species can still be found in Iran, Kazakhstan and some Eastern European countries. Fishing, harvesting of aquatic resources and water pollution are dubbed the most imminent threats to Russian sturgeon.
Also known as Cao-vit gibbon, this is a kind of gibbon present in Southeast China and northern Vietnam. Until 2000, this gibbon species was thought to have been extinct, but in 2002, its small population was rediscovered in Northeast Vietnam.
