As bushfire rages in Australia, it has put the fauna in the country in complete danger. While a reported half a billion animals have died, the catastrophic state of affairs has wiped half of Australia's only disease-free koala population, a key "insurance" for the species' future, is feared dead with more badly hurt after the bushfires swept through an island sanctuary.?
The Koala population estimated to be 50,000 in Kangaroo Island, a popular nature-based tourist attraction off the coast of South Australia state, is also home to many wild populations of native animals.?
Massive bushfires have flared up in the country's southeast areas in a months-long crisis, killing nearly half a billion native animals in New South Wales state alone, according to reports.?
Over the recent days, the condition has aggravated as Australia suffers its worse crises in decades. The blaze has been more frightening in Kangaroo Island razing 170,000 hectares ¡ª one-third of the island ¡ª on Friday.
"Over 50 percent (of the population) has been lost," Sam Mitchell of Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, which is raising funds to care for the injured koalas, told AFP. "Injuries are extreme. Others have been left with no habitat to go back to, so starvation will be an issue in coming weeks."
A University of Adelaide study published in July found that the Kangaroo Island koala species is particularly important to the survival of the wider population as it is the only large group free from chlamydia.
The bacterial infection ¡ª which causes blindness, infertility and death in the species ¡ª is widespread in koalas in the eastern Queensland and New South Wales states and also occurs in Victoria state.
"They are an insurance population for the whole population," the University of Adelaide's Jessica Fabijan, who carried out the study, told AFP. "These fires have ravaged the population."
The koalas cannot be removed from the island due to their chlamydia-free status, the state government said, adding that veterinarians were rescuing and treating the injured animals on-site.
This is just heart tingling and it can't get any worse than it already is. The bushfires are still raging in some parts of Australia, with many people having to flee their homes. Australia known for its vibrant and diverse biodiversity, has a major fight on its hand to save its distinctive fauna culture.?