As the koala population in Australia continues to be threatened amid the country’songoing fire crisis, conservation programs abroad could help keep the species alive.
One such program is The Koala Barn at South Carolina’s Riverbanks Zoo, which is home to an 18-year-old koala named Lottie who hashad 11 children since 2002, after being brought over from Queensland, according to WIS.
Additionally, Lottie’s children have had 14 children of their own, and Lottie’s family tree has continued to grow over the years, so that she even has one great-great-grandchild, the outlet reported.
“She’s an old lady, but she’s still hangin’ in there,” Director of Animal Care at Riverbanks Zoo, John Davis told the outlet. “Getting koalas out of Queensland, Australia doesn’t happen very often so this was a very unique special gift for us.”
Arterra/UIG via Getty
Programs like the one in South Carolina could come in handy as the deadly fires, which have been burning since September, continue to devastate the country.
Just this week, experts announced that an estimatedone billion animals in Australia have died from the wildfires, including thousands of koalas. Koalas have reportedly been hit the hardest due to their slow-moving nature and the fact they only eat eucalyptus tree leaves, which come from oily, highly-flammable plants.
Tens of thousands of koalas on Kangaroo Island, a popular tourist attraction that was estimated to have a population of about 50,000 koalas before the fires, are alsofeared dead.
“Over 50 per cent (of the population) has been lost,” Sam Mitchell, co-owner of theKangaroo Island Wildlife Park, told AFP earlier this week of the koala population, according toThe Straits Times. “Injuries are extreme. Others have been left with no habitat to go back to, so starvation will be an issue in coming weeks.”
DEAN LEWINS/Shutterstock
Addressing how breeding programs abroad could come to play a vital role in koala conservation, Davis explained that a shortage of eucalyptus trees in Australia would significantly affect the koalas’ ability to sustain themselves, in turn threatening their survival.
“Basically, the animals will not be able to thrive and continue and rebuild their numbers and regain and rebuild their populations,” he said, according to WIS. “They’ll be unable to do that and it’ll be the last number of animals that remain will either be in captivity in zoos or we will be finding isolated populations where they are living but unable to grow and recover.”
source: people.com
