Koalas could become extinct in Australian state by 2050, says inquiry

Koalas will become extinct in Australia's most populous state by 2050, according to a year-long parliamentary inquiry announced on Tuesday. Koala populations in New South Wales were on track to become extinct by 2050, prior to the 2019-2020 bushfire season.  CHAIR, THE NEW SOUTH WALES PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY, CATE FAEHRMANN said  "Without urgent government intervention, the koala will become extinct in New South Wales before 2050. This is extremely concerning, of course, to everybody who cares about koalas and indeed, from what we heard during the inquiry of course, that's pretty much everybody in New South Wales and across the world."

However, the recent bushfire season was particularly dangerous to the state's koala population and had only increased the rate of their extinction, according to the inquiry. Meanwhile, koala habitats in some parts of the state suffered a loss of up to 81%, according to the report outlined to the state government.