- Koalas could be wiped out in eastern Australia within
12 years, a conservation group has warned.
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- The Australian Koala Foundation said that urban and agricultural
sprawl was infringing on koalas' habitat to a dangerous degree.
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- The Group said it would request the federal government
to list koalas as a vulnerable species next month.
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- It is estimated there were up to 10 million koalas at
the beginning of the 20th century, and only 100,000 exist now.
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- More than half of those live in eastern Australia - many
in south-east Queensland. The foundation has studied 1,000 koala habitats
east of the Great Dividing Range, which separates the eastern coast of
Australia from the rest of the country.
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- Koalas' forest habitats - which provide them with the
eucalyptus leaves that sustain them - are being cleared for development
or cultivation, and cars and domestic dogs pose a threat to the animals
when they wander at night.
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- "The joke is the koala brings in A$2.5bn (US$1.75bn)
in tourist dollars. This country rides on tourism and the koalas are the
number one animal people want to see," said an official of the Australian
Koala Foundation.
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- ©2004 The Asian Pacific Post. All rights reserved.
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