Australia fires mean koalas could be classified as ENDANGERED because so many died
KOALAS may now be designated an endangered species as so many have been killed in the horror fires which have devastated Australia.
The worrying news comes as the country's environment minister Sussan Ley said the animals have taken an "extraordinary hit" in recent weeks.
"It may be necessary... to see whether in certain parts of the country, koalas move from where they are, which is often vulnerable, up to endangered," she said,
The wildfires are thought to have killed off a third of Australia's Koala population - whose numbers were already dangerously low before the flames.
At least 25,000 are now feared to have died after more than 20 million acres of land were turned into scorched earth by the blazes.
Heartbreaking images have emerged showing the charred remains of trapped animals and badly burned koalas being treated for burns.
One particularly horrific video shows dozens of burnt animal corpses lining the road of Batlow in New South Wales - one of the areas worst affected by the infernos.
Stuart Blanch of WWF Australia said many animals were well-adapted to cope with fires, but the current blazes were "too big and too hot" for the creatures to escape from.
He said: "Animals that make it through the fires will continue to die in the next weeks and months because of dehydration, starvation, disease and being easier prey for feral cats and foxes.
"Even animals that are not being burnt to death are cooked because of extreme temperatures, or they get very confused and lost because of the smoke haze so our animals don't stand a chance."
Experts now fear a billion animals have perished in the bushfires whose flames reached 200ft in height, according to Sky News.
The Australian government today committed £27m to an emergency wildlife recovery programme saying the bushfires threaten several species.
"This has been an ecological disaster, a disaster that is still unfolding," said the country's Treasurer Joshua Frydenberg as he visited the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.
Images of burned kangaroos, koalas and possums, along with footage of people risking their lives to save native animals have gone viral around the world.
WWF Australia has advised the government of 13 animals whose habitats have been either destroyed or severely damaged.
They include three critically endangered species: the southern corroboree frog, the regent honeyeater bird and the western ground parrot.
Other animals at risk include koala populations across the southeast, the Kangaroo Island dunnart, glossy black cockatoo, long-footed potoroo, western ground parrot, Blue Mountains water skink, eastern bristlebird and the brush-tailed rock wallaby.
In a mission dubbed Operation Rock Wallaby, national park staff used helicopters to air drop thousands of kilos of carrots and sweet potatoes to brush-tailed rock wallabies in remote areas of New South Wales state.
"The provision of supplementary food is one of the key strategies we are deploying to promote the survival and recovery of endangered species like the brush-tailed rock wallaby," NSW environment minister Matt Kean said.
"The wallabies typically survive the fire itself, but are then left stranded with limited natural food as the fire takes out the vegetation around their rocky habitat."
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Frydenberg said the "iconic" koala would be a focus of national government funding, adding that the full extent of the damage would not be known until the fires are out - something experts say could be months away.
The koalas' heavy fur and tendency to climb higher when threatened are severe disadvantages in fast-moving bushfires.