Koalas Declared As 'Functionally Extinct' By Experts

The situation is so bad, in fact, the Australian Koala Foundation (AFK) recently released a report saying that there are only about 80,000 wild koalas left.

The number may not seem dire, but it also means that there are not enough adults that could breed to support another generation of the furry mammals, the New York Post reported.

If there were to be any new diseases, the numbers of koalas will futher decline, making the possibility of the animal going extinct more imminent.

To make matters worse, AFK also revealed that there were only 41 known habitats (out of 128) that still have koalas.

According to this report, it's not just rising temperatue that is causing the issue.

Urbanisation and massive destruction of koalas' natual habitat have long been a problem, even leading to the killing of the animal by the government between 2013 and 2015.

While there were heavy backlash, those involved defended the action, saying that there was an issue of overpopulation and there weren't enough trees for the survival of the species.

All is not lost, however, as long as drastic and immediate action is taken.

AFK is urging the new Australian Prime Minister to pass the Koala Protection Act, an act that has already been written and ready to be implemented since 2016.

The organisation is confident that the act will work, as it was based on United State's Bald Eagle Act, which sucessfully helped prevent the extinction of the bird in the US.