Are koala populations declining

Answer 1

There are several factors which contribute to the death of koalas.

First and foremost, many koalas simply die of old age.

Koalas do have predators which kill them, especially young, smaller joeys. Koalas are particularly subject to dog attacks as they move between trees.

When moving between trees in their home range, koalas may be hit by cars as they cross the roads that intersect their territory.

Koalas are also subject to the disease chlamydia, which affects the koalas' fertility, and eventually leads to their death. Currently, there is no cure for this disease.

Answer 2

Koalas die because of humans who hunt them for their soft pelt. The koala's biome is being detroyed by people seeking farmland or selling lumber. Koalas have many enemies doing harm to them. tanner

Answer 3

Koalas, as a species, are not "dying", or in any immediate danger of extinction. They are not listed as endangered, although they are classified as vulnerable or threatened in some localities within Australia. They are at risk from numerous threats.

Having said that, however, just because the species is not officially threatened does not mean that they are free from threats to their future existence.

The chief threat to the koala is habitat loss. Koalas inhabit prime land which man has decided is better used for housing developments. Not only do the koalas lose their sources of shelter and food, they are subject to dog attacks and being hit by cars as suburbia extends further outwards. A prime example of this is southeast Queensland, where koala numbers have dropped to 60% less than what they were a decade ago, entirely due to increased development - and where they now face extinction by 2020.

Koalas are territorial, and they live in complex social communities where each member has a certain number of trees within its territory. When access to these trees is cut off by new roads, the koalas will still try to cross the road, and risk being hit. Relocation of koalas is rarely successful because their territorial and social habits are largely misunderstood.

Another significant factor is predation by introduced species such as dogs and foxes.

Koalas are also subject to the disease chlamydia, which affects the koalas' fertility, and eventually leads to their death. Currently, there is no cure for this disease. At the best of times, the koala is a slow breeder, usually producing just one joey a year.

Answer 4

Koala populations do sertainly seem to be declining, although various bodies would disagree with this. The Threatened Species Scientific Committee of the Australian Government has put the koala population in the 'hundreds of thousands'. However, the Australia Koala Foundation believes a more realistic outlook is that koala numbers in the wild have dropped to below 80,000.

Current estimates suggest the figure could be anywhere between 40,000 and 100,000.

While parts of Australia enjoy a very healthy koala population (e.g. southern Victoria and South Australia's introduced koala population on Kangaroo Island), in other areas, the populations are clearly declining. There are no longer any viable koala populations on the NSW mid coast, for example, while in southeast Queensland, koala figures are down 60% from a decade ago.

Answer 5

Although koalas are not officially endangered, there are several factors contributing to the high number of koala deaths each year.

The main reason koalas die is because of habitat loss. Koalas inhabit prime land which man has decided is better used for housing developments. Not only do the koalas lose their sources of shelter and food, they are subject to dog attacks and being hit by cars as suburbia extends further outwards. A prime example of this is southeast Queensland, where koala numbers have dropped to 60% less than what they were a decade ago, entirely due to increased development - and where they now face extinction in the next decade..

Koalas are territorial, and they live in complex social communities where each member has a certain number of trees within its territory. When access to these trees is cut off by new roads, the koalas will still try to cross the road, and risk being hit. Relocation of koalas is rarely successful because their territorial and social habits are largely misunderstood.

Another significant cause of death is attacks by introduced species such as dogs and foxes.

Koalas are also subject to the disease chlamydia, which affects the koalas' fertility, and eventually leads to their death. Currently, there is no cure for this disease.

Answer 6

Koalas are not bears.

As a species, they are not in any immediate danger of extinction, though certainly they are "vulnerable" in some parts of Australia.