EFFECT OF AUSTRALIA'S BUSHFIRES ON KOALAS

NO ACCOMMODATION FOR KOALAS-

More-beloved and misinterpret Australia's bush fires have left them with a tough effort for survival. Among the distinct pathetic images from the bush fires extensively through Australia's forests is that of a koala clutching at a bottle of water provided by firefighters. The animal in the image is amidst the lucky few that get away the inferno, clinging to rescuers. The fire has claimed thousands of koalas in Australia's forests-at least half of the animals in Kangaroo Island Sanctuary, key insurance for its future, are feared dead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trBYh0pHaD0The much-loved marsupial is currently categorized as vulnerable in Australia. But with 30 percent of the koala habitat being ravaged by fires, the Australian government is reportedly contemplating declaring the country's iconic animal as endangered. The koala has a lengthy archive of being misunderstood by humans. Confounded by the richness of Australia animal kingdom, early 19th-century European naturalists debated whether the furry eyed,spoony-nosed arboreal creature was a sloth or a monkey and pronounced it as Phascolarctos cinereus or the pouch-bearing ash-colored bear-the animal actually shares much more with the kangaroo and the wombat. The inaccuracy in taxonomy was, however, benign analyzed to what the koalas faced when European settlers made their accommodation in Australia. At least eight million koalas were murdered and their pelts were dispatched to London and cities in the US and Canada between 1880 and 1920. In the second half of the 20th century, koala tourism re-imagined the marsupial as a cute animal on the lookout for human affection. But the recent investigation has shown that in their natural habitats, koalas are shy animals who choose to be left alone on eucalyptus trees. The trees are among the most fire-adapted plants on Earth. The trouble, however, is that during times of climate change, they do not provide sanctuary for the koala.