The Taronga Conservation society Australia is calling for urgent funds to help its partner, the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, address the emerging koala crisis in the State’s bushfire-ravaged areas.
Director of Welfare and Conservation at Taronga, Nick Boyle said catastrophic fires had torn through huge areas of vital NSW koala habitat.
He said that in the Lake Innes Nature Reserve alone, it was estimated as many as 350 koalas had perished in the fires.
“Koalas were already at high risk of extinction before the fires ravaged their numbers,” Mr Boyle said.
“The situation was dire for koalas,” he said.
“Now it’s devastating.”
Mr Boyle said Taronga had sent emergency relief funds to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, where their vets and wildlife carers were working tirelessly to save affected animals.
“Once these bush fires pass, there will still be a crisis for koalas.”
“The next couple of years will be more important than ever for the long-term future of Koalas,” he said.
Director at Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, Cheyne Flanagan said the State bushfires had decimated the already declining Koala populations and searches for injured koalas were ongoing.
Donations to Taronga’s urgent Koala Appeal can be made on the Taronga website at this PS News link.
