KOALA bears have been declared “functionally extinct,” the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) reports. The fluffy marsupial is down to just 80,000 wild species members, meaning there aren’t enough breeding adults left to support another generation of the pouched mammals.

The tree-dwelling species has been ravaged by the effects of rising temperatures and heatwaves, which have caused widespread deforestation and fatal dehydration in koalas, according to the AKF. Only 41 of the koala’s 128 known habitats in federal environments have any of the animals left.

If a new disease or genetic pathogen of any kind is introduced, surviving koalas will die off rapidly. Activists are begging the government to step in.

“I know the Australian public are concerned for the safety of koalas and are tired of seeing dead koalas on our roads,” says AKF chairman Deborah Tabart. “I am calling on the new prime minister after the May election to enact the Koala Protection Act, which has been written and ready to go since 2016.”

There is hope: The Koala Protection Act is based on the U.S. Bald Eagle Act, which was successful in rescuing America’s national symbol from the threatened species list.

“The Bald Eagle Act was successful because there was political motive to ensure their icon did not go extinct,” says Tabart. “It is time for the koala to be afforded the same respect.”

Koala researchers are often asked, “How many koalas are in the wild?” It’s a hard question to answer. Koalas are not stationary, are patchily distributed throughout an extremely wide range, encompassing urban and rural areas in four states and one territory, and are usually difficult to see.

To determine whether each population of koalas scattered across eastern Australia is functionally extinct would require a gargantuan effort.

In 2016, in an attempt to determine population trends for the koala within the four states, a panel of 15 koala experts used a structured, four-step question format to estimate bioregional population sizes of koalas and changes in those sizes.

The estimated total number of koalas for Australia was 329,000 (within a range of 144,000-605,000), with an estimated average decline of 24 percent over the past three generations and the next three generations.

Since May 2012, koalas have been listed as vulnerable in Queensland, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory because populations in these regions have declined significantly.(SD-Agencies)

(SD-Agencies)