The koala is as the epitome of cuddliness. However, animal lovers will saddened to hear that this lovable marsupial has been to the endangered species list. The Australian Koala Foundation there are somewhere between 43,000-100,000 koalas in the wild. Their numbers have been rapidly due to disease, loss of habitat, bushfires, being hit by cars, and other threats. Stuart Blanch from the World Wildlife Fund in Australia said: "Koalas have from no listing to vulnerable to endangered within a decade. That is a shockingly fast decline." He that koalas risk "sliding toward extinction" unless there "stronger laws...to their forest homes".
The koala huge cultural significance for Australia. Wikipedia writes: "The koala is well worldwide and is a major draw for Australian zoos and wildlife parks. It has been in advertisements, games, cartoons, and as soft toys. It the national tourism industry by over an estimated billion Australian dollars in 1998, a figure that has since ." Despite this, efforts to the koala have been . Australia's Environment Minister Sussan Ley said there have "many pressures on the koala," and that it is "vulnerable to climate change and to disease". She said the 2019-2020 bushfires, which at least 6,400 of the animals, "a tipping point".
