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The cuddly koala is in danger. Animal lovers will be sad to hear that this lovable animal is now on the endangered species list. The Australian Koala Foundation estimates there are as few as 43,000 koalas left in the wild. Their numbers have been falling rapidly due to disease, loss of habitat, bushfires, and other threats. The World Wildlife Fund in Australia said: "Koalas have gone from no listing to vulnerable to endangered within a decade. That is a shockingly fast decline." It said that koalas risk "sliding toward extinction". It added stronger laws were needed to protect their forest homes.
The koala is important for Australia. Wikipedia writes: "The koala is well known worldwide and is a major draw for Australian zoos and wildlife parks.…It benefited the national tourism industry by over an estimated billion Australian dollars in 1998, a figure that has since grown." Despite this, efforts to protect the koala have not been working. Australia's environment minister said there were "many pressures on the koala," and that it is "vulnerable to climate change and to disease". She said recent bushfires killed at least 6,400 of the animals, and these were "a tipping point".
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