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A national emblem in Australia, the koala is now threatened. Only a few tens of thousands remain in the country. They disappear, victims of drought, fires and deforestation, but also of a disease, chlamydia.
A paradise Australian island, spared by galloping urbanization, has become one of the last sanctuaries for koalas. The animal is now a species classified as endangered by the government. Deborah Tabart, whom everyone in Australia calls “the koala woman”, has been a tireless advocate for them for 30 years. “We have destroyed 80% of their habitat. And the remaining 20% of habitat is under enormous pressure, from agriculture, coal mining, road building“, says the president of the Australian Koala Foundation.
There are only a few tens of thousands of koalas left
In recent years, the megafires in Australia, linked to global warming, have further accelerated the decline in the population of the species. 60,000 koalas were killed or injured in the 2019 fires. Of the 10 million koalas present at the start of the 20th century, only a few tens of thousands remain today. In particular, volunteers are trying to save the last trees of the Campbelltown eucalyptus forest, in the suburbs of Sydney, from housing development.
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