Australia wants to better protect koalas

Koalas are found in most parts of Australia Now better protected. A state of emergency in the states of New South Wales and Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory with the capital Canberra. Funny marsupials It was officially upgraded from “vulnerable” to “endangered,” Environment Minister Susan Ley announced on Friday.

Continuous drought, disaster Bush fire, diseases And there has been habitat loss in the last 20 years For a sharp decline The koala population.

She likes to protect animals Government 50 million Australians over the next four years dollar (31 million euros).

“We are taking unprecedented action to protect the koala and are collaborating with scientists, medical researchers, veterinarians, communities, states, local governments and indigenous peoples,” Lay said.

In particular, the massive bushfires from August 2019 to March 2020 hit the beautiful marsupials hard. According to the Ecosystem’s estimates WWF More than 60,000 koalas were killed, injured, displaced or traumatized Down Under alone.

Josie Sharratt of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said: “We should never have allowed it to get to this point and risk losing a national icon.”

Bushfires would have decimated an already endangered population of beautiful Eucalyptus eaters. “This is for Australia and the Government We can act more quickly to protect critical habitat from economic development and land clearing, and to aggressively address the impacts of climate change.”