The dingo hunted the koalas forcing the marsupial to seek protection in trees. Raptors and owls also prey on these marsupials. When koalas die, their remains become a source of food for insects and bacteria. Trees play a crucial role in the water cycle; they suck up water from the underground and release it to the atmosphere, which then drops as rainfall.
Deforestation and land clearing stop the formation of clouds resulting in diminished rainfall. After an extended period, desertification encroaches, and the land becomes unproductive and unable to support life. Koala forests aid in combating climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converting it into organic carbon.
As long as the trees do not burn or decompose, the carbon cannot be released into the atmosphere. The eucalyptus trees that grow in koala forests are among the most efficient in producing clean oxygen and storing carbon. Changes in government policies in New South Wales and Queensland have weakened conservation laws leaving forests at the mercy of ranchers, lumberers, and farmers.
Between and , more than , hectares of koala habitat was lost in Queensland and New South Wales. The damage caused by deforestation is so immense that planting 20 million trees would not recover the environment.
Small trees store less carbon, and it will take between 20 to years for the seedlings to mature. Planted forests are not as diverse as natural forests and may not support a wide variety of animals. Protecting koala habitats also protect insects, mammals, birds, reptiles, and birds. The Koala forests of Australia are a critical part of the global carbon stores that should be protected. Koalas survive on a diet of eucalyptus leaves and can eat up to a kilogram a day!
Pretty impressive, considering eucalyptus is poisonous to most animals. Their special fibre digesting organ, called a caecum, helps to detoxify the chemicals in the leaves. However, they can be quite picky eaters, eating less than 50 of over eucalypt species. However, they do drink from various water sources when needed, especially during heatwaves and in times of drought. The disease can cause blindness and reproductive tract infections. Many koala populations are faced with nowhere to go when their forest habitat is destroyed by deforestation.
Just in the last two years, tree-clearing has tripled in New South Wales, leaving important koala habitats incredibly fragmented or completely lost. With their trees gone, koalas are spending more time on the ground in search of food and shelter. Sadly, koala numbers are on the decline. Their numbers have been falling further and further every year due to deforestation and disease.
Then, Australia was ravaged by the most devastating, unprecedented bushfire season the country has ever seen. Tragically, nearly 3 billion animals, many found nowhere else in the world, perished. Many struggling Australian species, like our koalas, have now been pushed even further towards the brink of extinction. Sadly, being iconic and symbolic is not enough to save the koala from the threat of extinction. But there is much we can do to save the koala and the many other species that inhabit the Australian bush.
The destruction and fragmentation of habitat means koalas must spend more time on the ground moving from tree to tree. This makes them much more vulnerable to being hit by cars and attacked by dogs, while elevated levels of stress make them prone to sickness and disease. Fortunately, sick and injured koalas often make their way to koala hospitals where can they be treated and once they recover can be returned to the wild.
Excessive tree-clearing for agricultural and urban development has led to the destruction and fragmentation of large areas of koala habitat. However, the efforts of landowners, farmers, community groups and conservation organisations, with support from governments and corporate partners, are now seeing areas of koala habitat being protected and cleared areas restored to provide future habitat for koalas and other wildlife species.
The koala is the quintessential Australian animal, known globally and much loved. People come from all over the world to see koalas at wildlife parks and zoos.
It is featured in advertisements, games, cartoons, and as soft toys. In the wild, koalas serve as ambassadors for the many other species that also inhabit the Australian bush. Protecting bushland areas in an effort to save koala populations also protects the habitat of a wide range of animal and plant species such as possums, gliders, wombats, quolls, birds, and reptiles.
Koalas also have great cultural significance to Aboriginal Australians and feature in Dreamtime stories, songs, and rock art. Due to the low nutrient levels of the Eucalyptus leaves they feed on, the koala can sleep up to 18 hours each day.
Tree-clearing The destruction and fragmentation of habitat for agricultural and urban development means koalas must spend more time on the ground moving from tree to tree.
This means they are much more vulnerable to being hit by cars and attacked by dogs, while elevated levels of stress make them prone to sickness and disease like chlamydia. Global warming There is increasing evidence that climate change is leading to significant koala range contractions in western Queensland and New South Wales.
This is due to reduced nutrient levels in Eucalyptus leaves, rendering them of lower quality.
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