Koalas and Australia's Bushfire

The Australian bushfires are bringing the Australian koalas on the brink of extinction. Over the years; the entire islands of koalas have disappeared and the Australian bushfires are to be blamed for such huge losses. Koalas always become major victims of bushfires because they are not only slow but are simply incapable of fleeing such bushfires.

Bushfires are the major enemies of koalas, as they are bringing koalas to extinction. Koalas are not only slow but are incapable of fleeing bushfires.

According to the estimates; each year hundreds of koalas fall victim to these bushfires and apparently; there seems to be no solution to avert such kind of natural disasters either. Furthermore; koalas have a very weak immune system and any koala facing burns through the bushfires has a very low rate of survival. Therefore; the Australian bushfires also join the list of many other factors that are threatening the existence of koalas across the Australian continent.

In Australia; bushfires are very common during the hot summers. The months of December, January and February are the ones in which the bushfires are more frequent across Australia while koalas are affected the most. However; disastrous bush fires have even struck Australia during the months of March, October and November as well. Therefore; these bushfires may happen at any time throughout the year and it is relatively very hard to proactively manage and predict them.

The Australian bushfires are very common during the summer seasons. The most recent bushfires of 2015 have destroyed the koalas' habitat and population across various regions of Australia.

Historically; the bushfires of 1939, 1950s, and 1970s have significantly contributed towards the demise of the koala population across Australia. Recently; the bushfires of 2009, 2013 and 2015 have devasted the existence of koalas throughout Australia. Currently; in 2019, a lot of bushfires have reportedly caused many casualties to koalas.

One of the major factors of the Australian bushfires which increases the death rate among koalas are the Eucalyptus trees. Koalas only live in Eucalyptus habitat and they only feed on Eucalyptus leaves. However; these Eucalyptus trees are highly inflammable and they immediately catch fire (within minutes) after any fire trigger such as the lightning of the thunderstorms.

The koalas live in the habitat of Eucalyptus trees which are also termed as the “Gasoline Trees”. Eucalyptus leaves promptly spread the Australian bushfires which result in the deaths of koalas.

Furthermore; the presence of the Eucalyptus oil within the Eucalyptus trees along with the fallen dried leaves and bark serve as the perfect boost for the fires to expand rapidly. The presence of such inflammable properties within the Eucalyptus trees have also given them the name of “Gasoline Trees”. The fire expands so rapidly that koalas usually die within fire while the surviving koalas either get hunted by predators or die because of starvation.

The Australian bushfires themselves mean the death sentence for the koalas' existence. These bushfires destroy the entire Eucalyptus habitat of koalas. Remember; koalas only eat Eucalyptus leaves and they cannot survive on any alternative of the Eucalyptus trees.

The Australian bushfires also cause habitat loss for koalas. Consequently; the Australian koalas are starved to death and because of this factor the koala population has declined drastically over the years.

Furthermore; there is no quick fix to restore the habitat of an area that is ravaged by bushfires. It takes years to restore the koalas' habitat of the Eucalyptus trees and there is no surety that fire may not trigger within such fire-ravaged areas again. Furthermore; by the time the efforts are being made to restore the habitat a lot of damage is already done to koalas and other animals.

The Koalas' response against the Australian bushfires has been rather slow and too late. Koalas are usually not aware of what is happening in their surroundings? They usually focus on eating, finding a mate or scent mark. Else they sleep for more than 20 hours per day. Koalas also have a very small brain in proportion to their body size. They are not intelligent enough to predict the danger of bushfires. Furthermore; they are not the fastest or quickest ones either.

Koalas are rather sluggish and they are unaware of the dangers of bushfires. When bushfires approach, they are unable to relocate themselves within the safety of another habitat.

Therefore; when bushfires reach them, they are unable to flee and mostly die through suffocation or burns suffered via fire. Even they have been witnessed to sit at the bottom of trees to wait for their demise through bushfires. Over the years; a lot of heartbreaking pictures of koalas have appeared online that are either dead or fleeing the bushfire zones in Australia.

Lastly; in Australia it is very common for many residents to start cutting trees within their surroundings areas when the bushfires are active. This helps them to avoid any upcoming bushfires approaching their houses. This practice is conducted without knowing whether bushfires are actually approaching their houses or not. Furthermore; this practice doesn't seem to be the right solution for avoiding bushfires but rather it is destroying the koalas' habitat.

In order to avoid bushfires, residents across Australia cut trees (including Eucalyptus) in their suburbs so that bushfires don't reach their home. This practice is basically destroying the koalas' natural habitat of Eucalyptus trees.

Therefore; koalas are affected in the great number of ways through Australian bushfires and if this current trend continued, koalas will possibly face extinction in future. Perhaps; it is the right time to look for better alternatives and accumulate technology to stop or reduce bushfires across Australia. Otherwise; we may reach a point from where revival of species may become a very daunting task.